Halo: The Voi Assessment
by CII
Summary: The first story in the Bridge Series, this story bridges events between Halo 2 Different and Halo 3 Times as Different. One person goes to inspect the damage left by Regret's ship from the First Battle of Earth. Incomplete.
1. Prologue

**Halo: The Voi Assessment**

**Prologue: 30 Years Ago**

"_FOR EONS I HAVE WATCHED. LISTENED TO YOU MISINTERPRET. THIS IS NOT RECLAMATION. THIS IS RECLAIMER. AND THOSE IT REPRESENTS ARE MY MAKERS. I WILL REJECT MY BIAS AND WILL MAKE AMENDS. MY MAKERS ARE MY MASTERS. I WILL BRING THEM SAFELY TO THE ARK."_

Malcho awoke from another despairing dream. He had many of those lately and yet he could not tell what the exactly meant. Voices in his head spoke of someone reclaiming something and an ark. Noah's Ark, perhaps? He leaned up in his cavernous lair inside the full scale replica of _El Templo Mayor_ that he had built as part of his headquarters for the company Omak Technologies and Magical Research. He gave his feathers a fan and spread his brilliant wings out. These past few nights, he could not get any sleep. His dreams were bothersome. They were nightmares at times. He saw what looked to be a version of the Horrors, spiritual remnants of that evil monster King Ghidorah come and possess every sentient being they came in contact with. These monstrosities were deformed and some looked like they were rotting away with faces bent backwards and expressions in frozen horrified screams. Strange appendages grew out from their arms which appeared to be made of some sort of harden chitin. He saw these little, almost jellyfish-like creatures scurrying around on tiny legs with tentacles stretching out to attach themselves onto other sentient beings. As they attached themselves, they spread their horrible virus and made more of those deformed monstrosities. Malcho could sense a bit of King Ghidorah in each creature formed from this virus. He saw millions upon millions of these monsters. It was a flood of these monsters, a horrible flood with no receding waters high ground to be safe. Then, he heard that cry again…

_I will bring them safely to the Ark!_

Then, he saw the remaining humans following some strange looking humans with rather tan skin and platinum white hair onto a space ship. They took off into a portal and disappeared. Suddenly, a blinding, flash of light filled the sky and the monsters were dead. Malcho would often wake up right after that just like he had done now. The Great Feathered Serpent growled and shook his mane. A single solitary feather floated down from the shake and Malcho's eyes lit up when he noticed the color. The feather was not its usual emerald green color, it was platinum white, much like the hair on the strange humanoids. He caught something shimmering near him and he looked over. There they were, the Array Connection Cords, the vary things that bring him his knowledge that helped him build his company to the megacorp that it is now. Flowing down from the glowing blue-green streams of energy was the knowledge that was once thought lost when Atlantis fell. Though Malcho knew that this technology did not originate from Earth, but from 'up there'. One of the reasons why he was so insistent upon going into space was so that he could show these aliens who have endowed him with this knowledge that he could follow in their footsteps.

He heard a whisper coming from the walls and he leaned up to see where exactly they were coming from. He rolled over and followed along the walls of his lair, feeling around with the claws on his wings. The glow of the cords provided him with some light, though he did not exactly need it because Malcho possessed eyes that could see far better in the dark than any other night vision technology produced by the UNSC. The Great Feathered Serpent came to a depression in the wall and pushed it in. The wall opened up revealing a cavernous room. Inside the room, there was a cyan-colored glow coming from the center. Then, his cords began to move on their own extending out and flowing like a river of shimmering light towards the glow at the center of the chamber. Malcho took hold of the cords trying to keep them from flowing away from him. Soon, he felt another tug and something taking hold of him, bringing him towards the center. Malcho slammed face first into the enormous, monolithic, glowing crystalline structure of the Tower of Atlantis. His cords wrapped themselves around his body and the Tower, keeping him pinned to its surface.

"_Caramba…" _he breathed.

_I am so glad you are able to come join me, Malcho,_ began a deep voice emanating from the Tower.

"_Who are you?" _he asked, peeling his face away from the glowing structure.

_I am the one trapped inside this structure, _the voice replied. _My mind fractured and splintered, spread across space and encased in other structures._

"_This Tower has never truly spoken before," _began Malcho. _"At least not since I came into possession of it. I don't seem to remember Manda ever complaining about a voice trapped in the crystal."_

_The Guardian is not of any interest to me, _the voice echoed. _That is why I have never spoken to him._

"_I don't seem to remember any of the surviving Atlanteans complain of a voice coming from their Tower either," _Malcho continued.

_They may be the direct descendants of my makers,_ the voice noted. _But even they suffered from their own demise for not properly using my makers' technology the way it was intended to be used._

Malcho's eyes narrowed: _"Why speak to me, then? What is the meaning of this?"_

_A war will start between an alien faction that has misinterpreted my makers' messages and the Children of the Ark, _said the voice.

"_So, that was you?" _Malcho asked. _"The dreams, my dreams, over and over again. What I've been hearing—that voice was yours?"_

_I tried my best to stop them, _the voice rumbled. _Three of them know the truth now. They will do what they can now to try and destroy the Reclaimers for fear that such knowledge will destroy their own faction. This war will be a war of survival all because these Meddlers feel the need to become gods, and because of that the Children of the Ark will die._

Malcho felt the grip loosen and he slowly began to slide down the surface of the massive Tower. His cords untangled themselves and withdrew to a more comfortable length, cascading about Malcho and giving light to his silvery feathers.

_You have altered yourself extensively with the technology of my makers, _he said. _So much that now the very Array Connection Cords are a permanent feature. You hide them to stay under the radar of the laws passed on Eden._

"_Eden…" _Malcho breathed. _"I haven't heard this planet called that in centuries."_ He straightened his feathers out and picked up a bundle of his glowing cords, inspecting them. _"As for these laws. The 'Reclaimers' as you call them tried to reclaim their birthright and it backfired upon them. Almost destroyed this planet in doing so. Still, it couldn't stop the Horrors from coming."_

_Then perhaps then was not the time, _said the voice.

"_Who's to say that now is?" _Malcho asked. _"I came to an understanding that your makers passed their knowledge down to the humans out of sympathy. Your makers wanted to save humanity from the pulse that would potentially eradicate them. You had no idea of who you were giving your technology to. As much as I care for the humans, I also find that these people have no appreciation to the gifts they are handed. They still turn a gift of peace into a monster of war." _He sighed. _"Which is why even I agreed that Technomancy should be banned. Take away the loaded gun before it does anymore harm."_

_But you still play with this loaded gun, Malcho…_

"_I don't play, amigo," _Malcho growled. _"I study. If I could find a way to make Technomancy something that the humans could use not for war but for peace, for protection against the Gold Hydra, the way your makers wanted it, then I would."_

_The Hydra had been released many times in the past after the Children were saved and my makers perished, _said the voice. _By the very Meddlers who could indeed put an end to this planet._

"_On purpose?" _asked Malcho, horrified.

_It was an accident, _replied the voice. _But you can see the dilemma that I am in. When they let loose the Hydra's virus, it was enough for him to form a body and he came here…_

"_So, that explains it," _Malcho breathed. _"Twice he came back since your makers did what they did. My dreams, they were not dreams. Those horribly disfigured, rotting, animated corpses…that was King Ghidorah's virus."_

_Yes, now you know. It will happen again. He will return once more. My makers came here curiously wanting to know why this planet was of so much interest to him. They found the humans and made them Reclaimers, saving their lives instead of themselves from the Hydra and all his incarnations. They knew that even with the firing, it would only just hold him back for a moment. He will return again._

"_One of his incarnations did return, about a century ago," _Malcho replied. _"Before Technomancy was banned. It took all we got to hold him back."_

_It isn't enough. He will return once more. But I wonder if Eden will be left to greet him._

"_What do you want me to do?" _Malcho asked.

_Save them._

"_How do I do that?"_

_Take then to the Portal._

"_And where is that?" _he asked.

_In the Cradle of Life…_


	2. Rains in Africa

**Rains in Africa**

_**1409 Hours, November 5th, 2552 (Military Calendar)\Earth\Voi, Kenya**_

_I hear the drums echoing tonight_

_But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation_

_She's coming in 12:30 flight_

_The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation_

_I stopped an old man along the way_

_Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies_

_He turned to me as if to say: "hurry boy, it's waiting there for you…"_

"Oh, please," growled Livingston. "You know I hate that late 20th Century crap…"

"I rather enjoy it," said Furhmann. "Besides it rather matches to where we are currently in. We are in Africa, are we not? What do you think, Master Lofwyr?"

Lofwyr lowered the newspaper, his steely eyes narrowed: "I think if the both of you would stop arguing for two minutes, I could have some peace." He raised the newspaper back up. "And leave the song. This is one of my favorites."

"Y-yes sir, Master Lofwyr," Livingston swallowed. He knew very well that if the Great Dragon wanted to listen to Toto, then that is what they will listen to. He glanced over with a slight smile, seeing dormant volcano Kilimanjaro topped with icy frosting of snow in the golden glow of the sunlight.

_The wild dogs cry out in the night_

_As they grow restless longing for some solitary company_

_I know that I must do what's right_

_Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti_

_I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become…_

Lofwyr hid a smile behind the newspaper and turned his head slightly out the window again. The open plains of Kenya made him take a slight breath. It was not the rolling hills, the grassy plains or the umbrella trees that held his breath, it was the enormous metallic, rings all stretched out like a line of broken ribcages across the valley and going up the hills. He lowered his newspaper, his head shaking in dismay.

_It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you_

_There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do_

_I bless the rains down in Africa_

_Gonna take some time to do the things we never had_

"The Space Elevator…" Lofwyr breathed.

"That's the first thing we reported, sir," said Livingston. "After the Prophet of Regret made a jump for slipspace, the portal collapsed and took out all of New Mombasa. And then, it toppled the Space Elevator."

Lofwyr growled: "My company built that elevator. Kenya pitched it to Saeder-Krupp, stating that we would gain much from having it. So, I went with the plan. They were right, we did gain much. Now look at it. It'll take a lot more to clean it up off the Serengeti than it took to build it in the first place."

"We know, that, sir," said Furhmann. "This is just a part of the mess that Regret left."

"These Covenant aliens are becoming a bit expensive," Lofwyr growled. "First Reach, now this. Reach! Reach! That planet was all mine, the shipyards, everything…mine! Now, nothing more than a ball of glass. The funerals I had to help pay for, the lives of the workers, refugees that made it out…" He leaned back. "I suppose it was bound to happen."

Lofwyr knew that even the Cole Protocol was not fool proof. Though it did last as long as it could. It was only a matter of time before the Covenant found Earth. Ever since the late 21st Century, the company known as Saeder-Krupp had been one of the leading companies in industrial construction. In the next several centuries that followed Saeder-Krupp had bought out many other industrial companies, and leaving others rotting in the dust of bankruptcy. Lofwyr, being the CEO of the company, was not sitting on a dragon's horde that many people thought dragons do, he was sitting on a financial powerhouse. When the Human-Covenant war started, Lofwyr thought he was going to make a killing with the amount of contracts the UNSC signed with his company to build ships and transport vehicles. Lofwyr's company had the resources to furnish the UNSC exactly what it needed and in bulk—that is until Reach finally fell. Though the headquarters of Saeder-Krupp was in Essen, Germany, Earth, the factory floor was mostly situated in Reach. Lofwyr poured every ounce of funding into Reach's many industrial factories to build starships, drop ships, vehicles, space stations, bases. Though Lofwyr was a civilian, he was working now for the UNSC and the UNSC signed his "paychecks". Lofwyr partnered, though it was an uneasy partnership, with his long time mentor and also long time rival, Malcho, the Great Feathered Serpent who owned Omak Technologies and Magical Research. Since the banning of magic and Technomancy, Omak had returned to its roots, becoming Omak-Argon Industries again and supplying fuel for the Slipspace drives and weapons for the soldiers. Though the upcoming Spartan Laser made Lofwyr narrow his eyes in suspicion of Malcho for possibly using Technomantic crystals in its creation. Beam weapons have not been in circulation since the early 23rd Century when the ban on Technomancy was implemented. Since then, Earth and her colonies had to revert back to more primitive technologies and weapons. At one time, Earth had flying cars running off of the gravity generators created by Malcho, now, they had to resort to vehicles traveling on rubber tires like back from the early days of the automobile. It was a major technological step backwards, but it was necessary. Lofwyr's company survived the technological step backwards and he was surprised that Malcho's company did the same. Though Lofwyr had learned some Technomancy himself prior to the ban, he respected the law and never used it. Which is why he was trapped on Earth. Using Technomancy would mean he could leave the Mana-sphere and venture out to space, even to Reach. But a Dragon who had to survive on Mana now and only for the practical usage of shape shifting and nothing else, could not travel beyond the Mana-sphere without suddenly drifting into a hibernation state called Shal-Mora. As long as the Mana energies flowed over the planet, Lofwyr and the remaining of his kind could remain awake and exist alongside their human companions. But unlike the humans, dragons were bound to Earth, which is why, though to some disappointment of the younger dragons, they could not join the UNSC as officers or recruits.

Many of the dragons which awoke during the beginning of the Sixth World right at the end of the Mayan Calendar, soon fell back into hibernation only a couple of centuries ago. Lofwyr thought at first because Mana energies were beginning to lower and disappear, thus ending the Sixth World and beginning the Seventh, but after long studies, he found that this was not true. Mana seemed to still be rising, gradually. He learned that the dragons could no longer stand living in a conflicting world that Technomancy caused. So, they fell back into Shal-Mora and awaited for another time when the Eighth World would begin and awaken them again. Malcho called the lazy lizards for doing so and for once Lofwyr had to agree with him. And so, only a handful of dragons and maybe 4 out of those being elders, or Great Dragons, remained awake. Lofwyr was going to make sure if Mana was to drop and the Seventh World begin, he was not going to hibernate like he did during the Fifth World. He was going to do what Malcho did, he was going to remain awake even if that means being trapped in his human form for however many centuries it will be before Magic would return again.

Lofwyr was of course in his human form now, traveling in luxury across the Tsavo Highway, heading for Mombasa. Since the ban on Magic and Technomancy, Lofwyr had not taken on his true form much. Though his draconic nature hated being trapped in such a small body, he knew that it was more convenient to be human than dragon. He lived a human life, despite that life being longer than any normal human. He had a mansion, he had summer homes, he drove a car (BMW of course) and he put on his pants one leg at a time just like any other human. Being stuck in a human form has given Lofwyr a new look on life and he had softened much since then. He was more compassionate to the human subordinates who worked beneath him because now he could relate to them. Though he was a Great Dragon, being in human form meant he also gained the strength and weaknesses of that form. He could be killed by a gunshot to the heart, he could be stabbed by a knife or even cut. Something like that actually happened once while he was visiting France. Lofwyr was shot in the chest and was raced to the hospital. He did recover, but with a different temperament. Lofwyr at last knew that even in his human form, he was not invulnerable.

He lifted the newspaper back up and lightly tapped his foot to the soft music of _Africa_ by Toto. He even hummed to it, though subconsciously he was not aware of it. Though the newspaper was up, Lofwyr was actually looking out the window, seeing with disappointment the shattered rings of his Space Elevator littering the hills. He actually loved that elevator. It was one of the testimonies of the fact that there was nothing his company could not overcome, or accomplish. Now, it was nothing more than a shattered memory of happier days before this dreadful war started. Even he could not understand why the Covenant wanted to destroy the humans and cause such misery. When he heard about some Covenant defectors joining the UNSC about a decade ago, even they could not give him an answer as to why the Covenant wanted to attack humans so much. Though, he shoved that question to the back of his mind when he heard the news about one particular defector named Telek 'Herosee. He had to admit that Telek was someone he wanted to meet. Telek provided the UNSC with Covenant warships, weapons, and various other technologies that could possibly give them an edge in this war. For Lofwyr, that was a dream come true. Already the Covenant tech was sent to his company for study. When his technicians took the technology apart, that was when Lofwyr found out the Covenant's secret. They were using Technomancy without the need of Array Connection. That only meant the Covenant had a rudimentary understanding of the technology they were using, however they could update it and build on it, making it their own. From the reports he received, Lofwyr found that Telek and his pirates called Technomancy Forerunner technology, which was revered as sacred to the Covenant. The Covenant wanted to become like their gods, so they used the same technology. Lofwyr knew who the Forerunners were, though he made no reveal to the UNSC about them. When the Covenant finally came to Earth in a small fleet, thinking they were going to some uninhabited planet with Forerunner technology on it, that made Lofwyr realize that sooner or later, they will try to dig up the "Device".

_Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you…_

_It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you…_

"There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do…" Lofwyr sang softly. "I bless the rains down in Africa… Gonna take some time to do the things we never had…ooo-ooo…"

"Sirs," began the driver. "There's a road blockade up ahead."

Lofwyr lowered the paper: "Livingston?"

"Uh, I may want to mention," began Livingston. "The UNSC is still in the area, making their own assessment. We might run into some problems trying to get into town."

"I should fire you for leaving out such details, Livingston," Lofwyr growled just as the limo slowed down before the roadblock.

"I should handle this, Master Lofwyr," began Livingston. "If you don't mind to wait."

"I think you've done enough," Lofwyr growled, opening up the door. Livingston swallowed as he watched the Great Western Dragon-in-human form exit the limousine. Lofwyr's steely eyes squinted in the bright sunlight and he raised his newspaper up to shield his eyes. His mouth drew a thin frown on his gaunt, stony face as he walked for the blockade. The blockade was being held by UNSC Marines holding battle rifles in their hands. A Marine walked out to meet Lofwyr.

"Good afternoon," the Marine called politely.

"Good afternoon," Lofwyr returned the greeting. "Would you mind letting my limo through? We have business inside Mombasa."

"I'm sorry, sir," the Marine, who Lofwyr noted was a sergeant by the green chevrons on her collar. "But this road is blocked. Only military personnel are allowed in and out of this blockade. All others attempting to gain entry will be arrested."

"I see," Lofwyr cleared his throat. "Um, may I ask who ordered this?"

"High Command, sir," the Marine replied.

"Well, I understand that," Lofwyr nodded. "But you see, I must make my assessment of the damages made by the Covenant during their short time here. You see those rings there? Those are the remains of the Space Elevator in New Mombasa. I'm sure you've heard of it."

"Yes, sir," the Marine said.

"Well, my company Saeder-Krupp built that elevator and I would like to see the rest of the damages done to it," he continued.

"May I take your name, sir?" the Marine asked.

"Goldensnout," Lofwyr replied. "Lofwyr Goldensnout, CEO of Saeder-Krupp."

All of the Marines who heard that name began to laugh uneasily. They were not sure if this man was joking or if he was telling the truth. If he was telling the truth, then saying 'no' to a Great Dragon would be one of the worse decisions they had ever made. Still, regardless to the fact, even if he was a Great Dragon, the Marines still had their orders not to let any civilian—human or otherwise inside Mombasa.

"You're Lofwyr?" the sergeant asked.

"You don't believe me?" Lofwyr asked.

"I don't believe that the CEO of Saeder-Krupp, the Great Western Dragon Lofwyr would personally come to Africa to inspect a toppled space elevator," the sergeant grunted. "Now, if you don't mind, please turn that limo of yours around and head back the way you came. We can't afford civilian lives to be in danger in this area. It is possible the Covenant might return since this area was of interest to them."

"Back the limo up," Lofwyr ordered. The driver nodded and backed up, though he was rather confused as to why he was ordered to back the limo up when Lofwyr made no movements to get back inside of it. The sergeant's eyes widened just when the form of the man was suddenly replaced with the massive, golden-scaled form of a Western Dragon with piercing ruby eyes. Lofwyr gave his golden mane a good shake, ravishing in the glory of being in his true form again. His mane was salted with silvery streaks, which belied his age. He spread his crimson-colored membrane, bat-like wings wide. Though he was old, he was still as strong as he was when he was younger. Lofwyr chuckled as he lowered his wedge-like snout came close to the Marine sergeant. _"Well?"_

"Holy shit…" spouted a Marine behind the sergeant.

"God…" the sergeant breathed. "L-look, Master Lofwyr, orders are—orders. I can't let you through."

"_If you arrest me, then, you have no choice but to take me inside, is that correct?" _Lofwyr asked.

"Yes, sir," the sergeant replied.

Livingston got out of the limo: "Lofwyr, what the hell are you doing?!"

Lofwyr raised his forefoot up and over the blockade.

"Please, sir," the sergeant swallowed. "I don't wanna arrest a Great Dragon."

The Western Dragon chuckled just as he raised the other foot up and over the blockade. Then, Lofwyr stepped completely inside, picking his tail up and settled himself down on his haunches on the other side of the blockade.

"Oh, sweet Jesus…" a Marine whispered.

"Pipe down, Marine," the sergeant sighed. "Master Lofwyr, I'm sorry, but you are under arrest."

Lofwyr chuckled.

"If you don't mind, please get into your human form so we can drive you to detention," she continued.

With that, the dragon's form vanished, replaced by the gaunt, tall man wearing a business suit.

"What about my transport?" Lofwyr asked.

"It can't come with you," she replied.

"Master Lofwyr!" Livingston called.

"It's alright," he shouted back. "Just take the limo and go back to the hotel. I'll handle things from here."

"Yes, sir," Livingston sighed.

Lofwyr hopped into a Troop Transport Warthog, one of the vehicles his company had built for the service of the UNSC. Previously, Saeder-Krupp did not manufacture the Warthog until the buyout of AMG Transport Dynamics in 2498 which was done by one of Saeder-Krupp's subsidiaries the car company BMW. Saeder-Krupp, coupled with Lockheed-Martin and Daimler-Benz, which also owned the Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep companies, joined BMW in using their factories to furnish more light armor vehicle transports for the war. Though Lofwyr had to note that may have been a bad business deal and a costly one for the UNSC because the Warthogs that were recently deployed were not as tough as some of the ones BMW solely manufactured on their own back on Reach before it was glassed. Lockheed-Martin, along with companies like Boeing, handled the manufacturing of air transport like the Pelicans, and the starfighters such as the Longswords. This war had brought many of the warring megacorps together so they could help in keeping Earth and her colonies safe.

The Transport Warthog drove on through down the Tsavo Highway. Lofwyr noted the highway signs in green showing how far it was to both Voi and Mombasa. It seemed they were closer to Voi than Mombasa. The sergeant got onto the radio and informed her base on who it was that was coming in. Her reply was at first a shocked cough and then a hysterical laugh, which proved that even base command did not believe it either. Lofwyr gave off a deep chuckle. He leaned over and tapped the corporal sitting in the passenger seat.

"You don't happen to have Toto on that radio…" he said.

"Sorry, sir, I don't," replied the corporal.

"Oh, a shame…" Lofwyr leaned back and sighed. He turned to the sergeant. "How extensive is the damage to Mombasa?"

"The city is nothing more than a crater," the sergeant replied. "Only ruins are left, especially of your space elevator."

"What exactly happened?" Lofwyr asked. "I've heard the news reports though…but…"

"A Covenant assault carrier broke through our fleet and landed just above New Mombasa," said the sergeant. "We did our best against the Covenant forces that were deployed. Report came in that the Covenant assault carrier housed the Prophet of Regret. Then, when we won the battle, Regret fled, jumped for slipspace inside the city and destroyed it."

"The Space Elevator was like a stack of cups, sir!" called a private. "Toppling over one ring at a time. Now, all that's left is what you see strewn about the Serengeti."

"I saw some of them as I came in," Lofwyr sighed. "One ship did all of that just by jumping into slipspace. And here I thought ships could not jump inside so close to a planet."

"The Covenant ships are far more advanced than ours, sir," said the sergeant. "With all do respect to your company's fine construction. They just don't hold a candle to the Covenant warships and their advanced space drives. They're more accurate than ours."

"I suppose in wartime, the enemy has no regards for the financial sacrifices those who built such structures will have to pay to rebuild them again…" Lofwyr snidely snorted. "What else can you tell me?"

"Nothing more than that," the sergeant replied.

"Interesting," Lofwyr's eyes narrowed just as they zoomed in on a lakebed just outside the town of Voi. One of his eyes was actually replaced with a cybernetic one from the Utah Foundation, a gift from Kiryuu Knight prior to his election into the highest office in the land. Lofwyr even installed a neural jack at the back of his head hidden under his hair so that he could connect wirelessly to the latest version of the Matrix Internet. He could see from the HUB display inside that mechanical eye of his that there was something peeping out from the dust of the lakebed. _The Device…_ "Stop the car…"

"Sir, we must get to our destination," protested the sergeant.

"Stop the car," Lofwyr glanced back, his eyes flashing with impatience.

"Sarge," began the driver. "Do we really want to upset a Great Dragon?"

"Great Dragon or not…" she began. "He's our prisoner. He has to obey the laws just like the rest of us. Being a dragon doesn't make him above the law."

"No, but it makes it harder for us to enforce it on him," said the driver. "And I don't wanna be barbecued."

Lofwyr snorted again and leapt out of the Warthog.

"Son of a bitch!" the sergeant cried as the driver pulled over. Before anyone could react, Lofwyr had once more reverted to his dragon form and took off into the sky.

"At least he isn't coming back to roast us for not stopping when he wanted us to," said the corporal.

"Where the hell is he headin' for?" asked the private.

"Call command," shouted the sergeant. "In form them that our 'guest' has flown off. Advise to send Pelicans and Shortswords out to apprehend him."

"Why did he fly off?" asked the driver. "Why did he want to stop?"

"Something to do with the lake," replied the sergeant. "And what's under it. When Regret's ship left, it unearthed something. That's why we think the Covenant might come back. They might come back for whatever is under the lake near Voi."

0

Lofwyr slowly beat his wings, catching the thermal draft flowing up. He slowly began to circle the area where the lake once was, seeing the strange structure hidden under the dirt and rock. It was partially exposed and it was rather massive. Lofwyr had heard stories from Malcho, who was alive during the time when the strange aliens came to Earth 40 thousand years ago, about this Device. Malcho described it as a portal of some sort the aliens created in order to travel somewhere. Though Malcho could not say where, he did state that the aliens took the humans up there with them during one of the Worlds where Magic was not in abundance and all Dragons were forced into Shal-Mora. Lofwyr had yet to be born when the aliens built this portal, but Malcho had seen it activate once. This Device was something Lofwyr had always wanted to see the moment Malcho told him the story about it. Now, here he was, flying over the fabled Device, which was unearthed by the Covenant accidently when they fled from Earth. He landed near the edge of the crater of the dried up lake. The River Voi trickled its water down into the lakebed, but because of the disturbed earth, could not form another lake to replace the old. Lofwyr scanned the surface of the exposed area of the Device, taking note of the strange grooves and lines around it. He could tell that this thing could open up somehow. He wondered exactly what it could be that would activate it and reveal the portal.

_When the Device was activated, it formed a black hole in the sky, filled with stars, _Lofwyr recalled Malcho describing to him. _It was a portal, much like the portal rifts we could create with our own magic to the Astral Plane, but this portal lead somewhere deep in space. To where, I don't know. None of our magic seems to be able to activate the portal. In order for it to work, one of those aliens must use their machines to activate it. Who knows, they may return again…_

Those aliens that Malcho described was later revealed to Lofwyr to be the Forerunners, the very beings the Covenant worshiped. He heard in another report sent back to Earth, a report he managed to hack into through the UNSC servers that the Forerunners died, destroying themselves to keep the Flood from spreading. The Flood, now that was a word that Lofwyr actually was familiar with. Though his people had another word for them, the Horrors, the spawn of King Ghidorah. Lofwyr would never forget those days when that monster and his spawn came to Earth to feed upon Mana and the flesh and souls of the people who used it. Even Dragons were preyed upon by King Ghidorah and his horrible plague. Lofwyr knew that even today, there were still Horror-possessed beings running around Earth and controlling things from underneath. He had the strangest feeling that their presence only meant that soon, in one form or another, King Ghidorah will return. From those reports he read about Halo and the Flood, Lofwyr fearfully suspect it would be very soon. It would not take much time for King Ghidorah to use his virus and build another body. Perhaps focusing on the Covenant would just open Earth up for an attack by King Ghidorah, both from the outside, and from his Horror-possessed minions on the inside.

_The humans do not remember this…_Lofwyr thought. _How could they? The last tale of this Device was laden in biblical folklore that the humans now disregard as nothing more than fables. Noah's Ark. The last of such proof this Device even existed was burned away in the Great Library of Alexandria._

"Master Lofwyr!" shouted a voice booming from behind him. Lofwyr turned around to find three Pelicans and a Shortsword hovering above him. The wind rushed up and blew a lock of his golden and silver-salted hair into his eyes. Lofwyr growled for a moment and turned about-face to them, fanning his wings and then snapping them swiftly back to his back.

"Master Lofwyr, you were held in custody for entering an unauthorized zone," the voice from one of the Pelicans called. "You are to be escorted by us to the base for holding until further notice."

"_I would love to see you try to hold me," _Lofwyr chuckled. _"Your bullets will nothing more than ricochet off my scales."_

"Maybe, but how's 90 millimeters of tungsten fired at you sound?" the voice asked. Lofwyr glanced back, seeing two Scorpion tanks roll up behind him.

"_You don't have to be so pushy," _Lofwyr snorted. _"Very well."_

With that, he took to the sky again. The Pelicans followed suit and the Shortsword took the behind. They led Lofwyr down to a small hill with a hole leading down into a hangar underground below. Lofwyr landed on the rim of the hole, folding up his wings just as the Pelican descended down. He leapt down onto the grate near the Pelican, glancing up just as the hangar doors closed above. Dumbfounded Marines stared at the Western Dragon in disbelief.

"Is that who I think it is?" Lofwyr heard one Marine whisper.

"Oh, man," whispered another. "Just think, my grandma owns one of his cars."

"What the hell?!" called a man walking down. "I don't believe it, I just don't believe it! And here, I thought she was pullin' my leg, but here you are. One of the wealthiest guys on this planet arrested for going where he wasn't supposed to go."

"_I beg your pardon?!"_ Lofwyr growled.

"Sorry, wizwyrm," the Marine called. "You're barkin' up the wrong tree. Mr. Knight is on Ganymede right now, I'm afraid he's not gonna help you."

"_I know that," _Lofwyr growled. _"Who are you?"_

"Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker," replied the Marine. "You are in a mess of trouble, Goldilocks. And unless you can squeeze yourself through that door, I suggest you get into something more pint-sized. I'd hate to have to shovel your scaly ass out of a hole."

Lofwyr growled, his body beginning to shimmer like a mirage. His form shrank down, becoming human again. He straightened out his blazer and tugged on his tie.

"The tabloids are right," Stacker chuckled. "I wonder just how much you spent on that monkey suit, Lofwyr."

"Probably more than your annual income," Lofwyr snorted. "I suppose this sewer is my prison until you decide what to do with me."

"Oh, I'm sure we can find more comfortable arrangements for you much later on," Stacker chuckled. "But for now…you'll just have to follow me to the Ops Center."

"To meet the person in charge?" Lofwyr asked.

"That's right, wizwyrm," Stacker grinned. "Now get movin'."


	3. Return to Earth

**Return to Earth**

She felt she needed to stay close to Shri and Doc Erin. Though these other Elites were on her side (as they said), she could not quite trust them. The one she noticed he worried about her the most was of course Otto 'Gamamee, the Arbiter. He did not take offense that she was not rather talkative to him and the other Elites on board the assault carrier _Regret and Reconciliation_, but he felt that her need to stay at Shri's or Erin's side might disturb some of the other crew members. He especially noticed how Sergeant Major Avery Johnson kept his shotgun close to him at all times. Even he did not trust the Elites here. Miranda could not blame Johnson for not trusting these Elites, after all, they were once their enemies. Shipmaster Wago 'Tawun taking this ship to Earth was a favor more for his guests on board than anything else. But he knew that the battle would soon be on Earth anyways and that was where the Sangheili needed to go.

Previously, they were going to destroy Halo with Wago's ship, but then they were left with a dilemma. How were they going to get back to Earth? And so, it was agreed that Wago's ship would be spared. Wago was more than elated by it. Though he was the one who originally offered to destroy his ship, he only did that to make himself look good in the eyes of Telek 'Herosee.

Miranda walked over to sit down beside Sergeant Johnson and Commander Shri 'Canthonee, who were eating their food in the ship's galley. Johnson just stared at the pasty-looking protein substance that was on his purple-metallic plate. He had utensils that looked kind of like forks and spoons, but even he was confused on how to use them.

"Ew," he swallowed disgustingly. "No wonder Squiddy pigs out on our food now. He had to live off of this crap when he was with the Covenant."

"I know," Shri sighed. "I would give my right mandible for a cheeseburger right now with the greasiest fries I have ever seen."

"Drenched ketchup," Erin said as he joined them, putting his plate down.

"And a dill pickle," said Colonel Norrington as he sat down with his plate of white paste.

"Oh, stop it," sighed Miranda. "You're all making me hungry. And I can't eat this stuff."

"We had to live off of it," Erin growled. "Until we came to the UNSC and they made Telek's ship a mixture of human and Covenant defectors. We were used to the food we were fed, then, once of us bravely decided to try your food."

"Don't tell me that one brave soul was Telek," Johnson called.

"Yup," Erin nodded. "It was. And he pigged out afterwards. We couldn't get him to stop. I think I had to pump his stomach once because he binged on mashed potatoes."

Miranda actually giggled at that.

"No wonder he's lookin' all doughy now," Johnson snorted. "Might as well call him a Squiddy Marshmallow."

"Poor Squiddy," Miranda giggled. "I mean Telek."

Johnson pulled out a ration packet and handed it to Miranda: "Here, you take it, Commander."

"I was always afraid to eat the ration packets while on this ship," said Miranda. "Afraid those Elites might take offense."

"If they do and they cause you trouble," began Shri. "I'll give them the pointy end of my sword. Eat it, Miranda. We won't tell."

"If it's any consultation," began Erin, leaning into Miranda and whispering. "We don't exactly trust these guys either."

"Yeah," said Shri. "We're the heretics these guys wanted to kill."

"Now everyone are heretics," began a deep voice walking up from behind. They turned around to see a Sangheili dressed in archaic designed armor come walking up to them. It was the Arbiter Otto 'Gamamee. Miranda tossed Johnson the ration packet and he tucked it under his vest.

"Arbiter," Miranda straightened up her shoulders.

"Commander Keyes," began Otto. "I understand your uneasy feelings about being on this ship. If I were in your position, I would feel the same. But rest assured, I gave Telek my promise—my word that no harm will come to you or your friends while you are in my company."

"Don't think I don't appreciate that, Arbiter," Miranda began. "It's just that…"

"I know, we were once your enemies," the Arbiter nodded. "But remember, so were they once."

He pointed at Shri and Erin.

"The difference being," began Johnson. "Is that those two squids actually proved their loyalty many times over. Which is hardly what I can say for what you did. Especially after you head-butted me. Not even Squiddy has done that."

"Arbiter," began Miranda. "If we are going to make this alliance work, we do need to put our differences aside. Your people don't exactly like us humans for some reason, which is beyond what the Prophets told you. But for some strange reason, Telek and his crew felt differently about us."

"Telek liked the humans even before he defected from the Covenant, Excellency," said Shri.

"I always wondered why," said Otto. "Before the war, he was ordered to your planet Harvest to watch the planet while the Jiralhanae were inspecting it. Back then; we always kept one Sangheili ship near the Jiralhanae to keep an eye on them because of their reckless nature. Telek was policing the ship. But somehow, I knew, he knew about your kind even before Harvest. That's why he had sympathy for your species."

"Telek did say he heard Earth transmissions that originated from our planet 500 years ago," said Miranda. "So, I'm sure he did know about us, but just never reported it to you."

"Back then, I would have reprimanded him for such an action," Otto sighed. "Now, I'm glad he did not. It probably would have started the war much sooner for both of us. The Sangheili feel this way about your people because one we do find you physically weaker than we are, and two, because you give us names we do not appreciate. Names are important to our kind and we have always felt we were the ones who should be the giver of names and that creatures we feel are not worthy of names should not give names to us."

"That's a pompous look on things," Johnson snorted.

"Johnson…" Miranda sighed. "I'm sorry, Arbiter."

"It's our culture," Shri sighed. "Frankly, I don't care. You have to call something a name to identify it, that's your way. You called us Elites because you never knew our word for our species nor did we ever stop the fighting to inform you of it. Because of Telek's sympathy, he actually learned what the word 'elite' means and found it an honorable name you came to identify our species with. After all, 'elite' means: 'those with exceptional skills.' We should have looked at it as a compliment. And well, Telek always states that only you can call him 'Squiddy', AJ."

"Squiddy says that, doesn't he?" Johnson chuckled.

"To our culture, that means that Telek holds you in high regard, Johnson," said Erin. "Very high regard to allow you to call him a nickname."

"Isn't that sweet of him," Johnson snorted.

The Arbiter's eyes narrowed at Johnson's comment.

"It's alright," said Shri. "This is normal."

Johnson sighed, taking his cigar out of his mouth: "If you want the truth, I do like the guy. I don't know what it is about him, but I trust him more than all the squids in this galley combined. When he sets out to do something, he does it. Sure, he gets drunk when while he does it, but he does it. And it does turn out exactly how he planned. I have a feeling that he's gonna do exactly what he set out to do when you guys kicked him out. He's gonna end the war."

"He'll still need our help," said the Arbiter. "There is no doubt about it. Not even Telek is that much of a miracle worker."

"We need your help too," said Miranda. "Earth does because we are all in this together. You know the truth, and so do we. The Halos mean death and if Truth wins, then we all loose. It's not just my people's fight for survival, this is a fight for all life."

"Arbiter," began Shri. "You are the voice that the humans need to the Sangheili. Telek can't do it on his own."

"Telek is on his way to Sanghelios," said the Arbiter. "He will need another voice to speak for him to get my people to listen. I just hope he finds that voice."

"Uoy htiw stseug ruoy gnirb," called a voice over the intercom. "Dlrow emoh Namuh eht deraen evah ew. Egdirb eh tot troper, Retibra."

"I only understood half of that," whispered Miranda. "Something about the bridge…"

"Shipamster Wago wants us to report to the bridge, Commander," said Otto. "We're nearing your planet Earth."

"It's about time," Johnson grunted. "I thought we'd never get back home."

"Come," said the Arbiter. "It is best that you be there when we make contact. It will show this Lord Hood of yours that we mean no ill to Earth."

"Right," Miranda nodded.

0

It did not take much to operate a _Reverence-_class battle cruiser, so Shipmaster Cujo 'Mentatalee did not do much to run it. His ship the _Divine Journey,_ orbited lazily over the atmosphere of Earth. He followed slowly behind several UNSC ships, especially frigate called the _Forward unto Dawn_. His helmsman kept an eye on their controls, monitoring signals coming out from outside the Solar System. Io was on alert again, and Cujo received word from Mitsu 'Kimamee, the Shipmaster of the destroyer _Holy Justice_, who kept a vigil near another battle group of UNSC ships and some of the Covenant-captured ships that Telek had given the humans during his service in the UNSC. Lord Hood wanted to keep all ships on alert for a possible attack by the Covenant.

"We're rascals, scoundrels, villains and knaves," Cujo murmured to himself as he read his magazine. "We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs. Drink up, me hearties. Yo ho."

He softly began to hum the chorus of one of his favorite Disney songs. It was Telek's favorite too. It made a lot of sense to him to sing such a song since he was a pirate, an outcast from the Covenant who did not believe one bit in their ways and sought to make their lives miserable by looting, pillaging, and plundering. But Cujo and Telek were also like Robin Hood and his good friend Little John as well, stealing from the rich (or technologically advanced) like the Covenant and giving it to the poor (or technologically inferior) like the UNSC. But there was no way he was going to start singing _We're Men in Tights_ while doing the Can-Can like in the Mel Brooks movie.

Cujo flipped through the _People's _magazine, snorting with laughter at some of the ridiculous things some of the latest celebrities would do. He had to admit though; this was lot more entertaining than that _Star _magazine subscription he just recently canceled. Cujo had a thing for human magazines ever since he picked one up those years ago before defecting from the Covenant. It was during a Kig-Yar raid on a human ship and he managed to confiscate a magazine from one of the Unggoy on the ship. A leaflet dropped out from between the pages and Cujo bent over to pick it up.

"Oh, look at this," he chuckled. "A 6 month subscription to _Us Weekly._ I should fill this out right here…" Cujo brought out a pen that was hidden under his golden armor and began to fill out the lines. "There we go. Can't wait to mail this off. I wonder if I can get a subscription to _Sky Mall_ too."

"Shipmaster!" called one of his helmsmen. "Shipmaster Mitsu is reporting in."

Cujo lowered the magazine: "On screen."

"Cujo?" Mitsu asked, his face appearing in the holo-screens before Cujo. "I've got a contact. And it's coming in hot. Keep on your guard."

"I'll inform Lord Hood," said Cujo. "Is it UNSC or Covenant?"

"I think it's Covenant and it doesn't show the signatures of one of our own captured ships," said Mitsu.

"Patch me into Lord Hood!" Cujo called. "He's on the _Cairo._"

"Yes, Excellency," replied the red-armored Major Domo at the helm.

Lord Hood's face appeared at a holo-screen right next to Mitsu's face.

"Something to report, Shipmaster Cujo?" Hood asked.

"We've got an unknown contact coming in," replied Cujo. "Mitsu recognizes it as possible Covenant, not UNSC or any of the Covenant captured ships we gave you."

"One contact?" Hood asked.

"One," Cujo replied. "So far. More may be coming in."

"Confirmed!" called voice behind Lord Hood. "Slipspace rupture is forming just beyond the Moon."

Cujo's eyes widened just as the screen showed a massive slipspace rupture forming in brilliant bright, white light. Suddenly, a huge ship passed through the rupture. He recognized the ship to be a Covenant assault carrier.

"A carrier?" Cujo asked.

"Is it Telek?" Lord Hood asked.

"Negative," Cujo replied. "That is a negative, Lord Hood. By the gods, that's the _Regret and Reconciliation!_"

"Cujo?" asked Mitsu. "Did you just say the _Regret and Reconciliation_?"

"Wasn't that the ship that landed in New Mombasa, then destroyed it when it fled to slipspace?" asked Lord Hood.

"The one Miranda's frigate hitched a ride on and Telek then pursued afterwards," Cujo nodded. "What the hell is it doing here?"

"Any sign of any other ships coming in behind it?" asked Lord Hood.

"Mitsu?" Cujo asked.

"No," Mitsu replied. "Just that one. Which is odd. Unless their Shipmaster is Telek 'Herosee, most Covenant carriers don't go off alone. They usually travel in fleets or battle groups."

"Excellency," began the helmsman. "The ship is hailing us."

"On screen," said Cujo. Lord Hood also tuned in to the message as the alien ship hailed his station as well.

"Hail, humans!"

The screen flashed with the image of a Sangheili Shipmaster on board dressed in the usual Shipmaster Zealot armor. Cujo recognized the face to be Shipmaster Wago 'Tawunee.

"Hail, humans!" Wago called. "I come in peace. My shields are down, my weapons have been withdrawn. I am at your mercy."

"What mercy?" Hood asked. "You never showed New Mombasa any mercy when you destroyed it."

"Apologies," Wago bowed his head. "I was following the orders of the Prophet of Regret, who is now dead for his blind devotion to the Great Journey."

"Say what?" Cujo asked. "What the hell are you talking about? You mean someone killed the Prophet of Regret?"

"Yes," Wago replied. "That being the Demon himself—the one who you refer to as the Master Chief."

Hood allowed himself a slight satisfied smile. _Well done, Chief._

"What's this about you believing the Great Journey is a lie?" Cujo asked. "That's a first."

"I do," Wago said. "I have been enlightened by Telek 'Herosee himself. My eyes are open to the truth. I know now the Great Journey is a lie. Though the Prophet of Regret has been vanquished, the Prophet of Truth is still alive. I have received reports that he is heading here. I wish to ally myself and my ship with the humans just as you have, Shipmaster Cujo, and just as Telek has."

"What happened to Mercy?" asked Mitsu.

"My reports tell me he had been killed as well by the Flood," said Wago. "The Flood have taken over High Charity."

Cujo's lower mandibles dropped. Mitsu stared blankly in disbelief.

"Mitsu," Cujo began. "Go get Tulsa."

"Oh, holy shit," Mitsu swallowed.

"Go get Tulsa!" bellowed Cujo. "Wago, if what you're saying is true, then the Flood have a means to travel now since High Charity has slipspace capabilities."

"My reports state that Truth as taken _Dreadnaught_," said Wago. "And escaped with it, leading a Jiralhanae fleet to Earth to activate the Ark."

"Ark?" Hood asked.

"I have humans here that belong to you," said Wago. "They are not my prisoners. They are guests. They and the Arbiter are well informed about what the Covenant plan to do."

"How do I know this isn't some Covie trap?" Lord Hood growled.

"It isn't," replied the Arbiter who stepped forward. Cujo's eyes widened more.

"Otto?!" he breathed. "Supreme Commander Otto 'Gamamee? Is that you under that all that archaic armor?"

"It is I," Otto replied. "I assure you, on my honor, on the honor and lives of all Sangheili that this is no trick. Because we failed in protecting Regret from the Demon, we were cast out of the Covenant. But then, I was shown the truth about what the Halos really do. I realized that my people, if we had helped the Prophets start the Great Journey, we would all die. Because of this knowledge, because it is no longer the fate of your home world at stake, we wish to ally ourselves towards a common foe…Truth and the Jiralhanae. They will kill us all if they find this Ark."

"Who do you have on your ship?" Hood asked.

"Your Commander, Colonel, and Sergeant," the Arbiter replied, stepping back to allow Lord Hood to see Miranda, Johnson, and Norrington on the bridge. "As well as a few of Telek's own loyal Sangheili warriors."

He motioned over to Doc Erin, Commander Shri, and some of the others that belong to Telek but came aboard Wago's ship.

"And where's Telek?" Hood asked.

"He is on his way to Sanghelios," replied Wago. "To enlist a fleet to assist you in battling the Covenant, to assist us in stopping Truth."

"Go Telek!" Cujo laughed. "Man, I've heard him do some ballsy things, but this takes the cake. Lord Hood, him going to Sanghelios, to the High Council who basically called him heretic and tried to execute him for spreading the truth about the Halos and asking them for help…wow. Go Telek. But we need it, oh, if Wago's right about that fleet coming to Earth, we do need the Sangheili fleet to back us up."

"The entire Covenant fleet is heading for Earth?" Lord Hood asked.

"Not all of it," said Miranda as she stepped forward. "Since the Elites were kicked out, the Covenant fleet has been cut in half. Truth has one half, and if Telek succeeds, we'll have the other half fighting on our side."

"If he succeeds," began Hood. "That will be the biggest miracle he has ever pulled. I have to inform the President about this."

"If he succeeds," Cujo sighed. "He better. Or I just might defect to save my own ass."

"Alright, Shipmaster Wago," began Lord Hood. "Bring your ship in. Lord knows we need the firepower right now. We need all the help we can get. But I am keeping a close eye on you." His eyes turned to the Arbiter. "Otto 'Gamamee, correct? Telek's old commander?"

"Yes," Otto nodded.

"I heard you were his teacher," said Hood.

"I was," Otto replied.

"I suppose having his teacher here is like having him here too," Hood smiled softly. "And that's good enough for now. But Telek better get here and soon. Cujo, Miranda, Wago, and the Arbiter, come to the _Cairo _for a debriefing."

"Mitsu, keep your eyes pealed," said Cujo. "Bring us to the _Cairo_, boys."

"Yes, Excellency."

"I'll tell Tulsa about what's going on," said Mitsu.

"I would expect you to," said Cujo.

0

They were all gathered around the debriefing table. Cujo had his arms crossed and a scowl drew across his mandibles. He could not believe that the Flood had taken control of High Charity. Now, more than ever, he figured that would give Telek more than enough of a reason to destroy it. Cujo recalled that Telek once had a plan to return to High Charity and detonate a bomb in order to destroy it. Now, it seems, he could get that chance again, but unfortunately, it also meant he would have to fight against the Flood to destroy it.

Wago sat with his arms crossed, leaning against the small chair he was in. He glanced over at Cujo and then back to the Arbiter. He glanced up at the door as Lord Hood came in. Sitting near the Arbiter were Miranda and Colonel Norrington. Shri and Erin were with

"I've contacted the President about this as well," he began. "He wants to sit in on the meeting."

"Where is President Knight?" asked Miranda.

"On Io at this time," replied Lord Hood. "It'll be a transmission between us and Io. He's insisting on returning to Earth, but I stated until we are sure that the Covenant have left Earth alone, I wouldn't risk his safety."

Norrington actually snorted at that statement: "His safety?"

"Despite the fact of what he is," Lord Hood began. "Even I don't think that'll be enough against the Covenant."

_What he is?_ Otto asked. _Who is this President Knight? _"Is this President a leader?"

"He is," said Miranda. "He is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the UNSC."

"And that's why he is staying on Io for now," said Lord Hood. "But he still needs to be informed of what is going on. I hope you don't mind. President Knight was the one responsible in commissioning Telek into the UNSC. He handles everything when it comes to that crazy pirate. Because Telek is a special case, we felt that it would best that Mr. Knight takes care of him. Mr. Knight is the one who pulls the strings handles Telek's promotion, and everything. Now, he should be the one to hear where his favorite pirate is heading off to."

"Admiral Hood," began a voice on the intercom. "We have the President."

"On screen," said Lord Hood.

"You two are in for a big surprise," Cujo chuckled, remembering that day when he first met Kiryuu Knight those many years ago. Though he had not seen Kiryuu since then, he could not forget what Kiryuu looked like. He thought he would never forget what Kiryuu looked like. Since he had a feeling that Otto and Wago would meet Mr. Knight, he thought he would bring along something to help them understand when questions rose. Though everyone else in the UNSC was human, Kiryuu Knight was not and Cujo knew this would confuse Otto and Wago greatly. And he came prepared with a little holographic image of who Kiryuu was before he became Kiryuu. Cujo glanced down and took a small peek at the little holo-projector and saw the black and white image of a gigantic, shadowy, reptilian form hovering over Tokyo Bay, firing its atomic plasma fire upon the hapless Japanese Defense Force and then proceeded to stomp flat some of their tanks. And he heard that haunting wail coming from the monster's jaws. It sounded like resin being pulled across a large metallic cord coupled with the deep bellow of a whale. And that roar creeped Cujo out. Cujo knew that Kiryuu was still capable of creating that sound since he had heard various sound clips of Kiryuu roaring out after he was turned into what the humans called a cyberzombie, a creature who had died and was reanimated through the methods of technology and cybernetics—like a mechanical Frankenstein. Cujo had one clip of Kiryuu bellowing out that roar at the winning ceremony of his first term as the new President of Earth. The roar was followed by of course cheering from all of his faithful voters.

The large screen flashed on and Kiryuu Knight's massive head filled it. Cujo's mandibles almost dropped when he realized the silhouettes of smaller humans walking in front of him. They were no more than the size of probably one of his nostrils. Cujo almost fell out of his chair laughing when he realized that Kiryuu Knight was in his true size up there on Jupiter's moon.

_Oh boy, wait till I tell Wago he's 60 meters tall, _Cujo thought.

_I heard that,_ Kiryuu's voice bounced back into Cujo's head.

"Crap," he sighed. "Forgot he's psychic."

"What was that?" asked Lord Hood.

"Nothing," Cujo covered his mandibles. He glanced back over at Otto, who's honey-colored eyes grew wide.

"Redael rieht eh si?" he whispered to Cujo.

"Yup," Cujo replied, snickering.

"There is no point in whispering in the language of your people, Arbiter," Kiryuu began, his deep, powerful voice causing a tremor to fluctuate through the speakers. "I can understand it perfectly. Shipmaster Cujo, have you been snooping around again in Antarctica?"

"Me?" Cujo asked. "Snooping? No, Mr. President. I've been behaving myself while Telek's been gone."

"Behaving since I caught you the last time you poked the nose of your ship into my affairs," Kiryuu growled.

"Last week," Cujo said. "I haven't poked around that frozen wasteland since then."

"And I hope it will stay that way," Kiryuu growled.

_Far be it for me to disturb the frozen sleep of your kid, _Cujo thought. He caught the eyes of the enormous mecha narrowing. _Yeah, I knew you heard me! You can't hide that secret from Cujo, now can you?_

"What is the report, Admiral Hood?" Kiryuu asked.

"First off, as you well know, that is the Arbiter," said Lord Hood. "But I suppose you were able to pick up on that."

"Being telepathic helps," said Kiryuu.

"Has that helped to inform you what will happen?" Lord Hood asked.

"I can only read surface thoughts from this distance," Kiryuu replied. "So, can I return to Earth?"

"No," replied Lord Hood. "The Arbiter and Shipmaster Wago 'Tawunee have returned Commander Keyes and Colonel Norrington to Earth with a message. The High Prophet of Truth is coming to Earth and he's bringing the Covenant fleet with him. The entire fleet."

"At least the ones who remain loyal to him," began Otto, waking up from his shock over the appearance of Kiryuu Knight. "The Covenant has split into two parts. A Great Schism has occurred between the two founding species, the San 'Shyumm and the Sangheili. Because of your Spartan's successful assassination of the Prophet of Regret, we Sangheili have been cast out of the Covenant."

"You wish to ally with us?" Kiryuu asked. "Like Telek did?"

"Telek was my student," replied Otto. "What he did was the right thing. The enemy of his enemy became his friend. I know what the Halos do. I know the truth, I've known ever since he told me that day and I betrayed him by reporting him to the Covenant for heresy. I did not believe his story, but now I do. And you need ships, our ships, to help you defeat Truth."

"I see that Telek is not with you," Kiryuu rumbled.

"No," replied Cujo. "He's not here."

"Where is he?" Kiryuu asked.

"He's going to Sanghelios," said Otto. "To bring back a mighty fleet to aid us in defeating Truth."

"Indeed," one of Kiryuu's eyebrows cocked up. "Here's hoping that he'll make it."

"But the fleet is heading here," said Cujo. "Truth's fleet."

"We think they might try to head back for Africa," said Miranda. "Since Regret went there as well."

"What's in Africa?" Kiryuu asked. "That was never fully explained to me."

"The Ark," replied Miranda.

"The Ark?" Kiryuu asked, his AI began to sift through the mounds of data he had on the word. Finally, he came to a conclusion. His head came close to the screen until it filled up with nothing more than his massive, golden, cat-like eye. "Noah's Ark?"

"That's the legend," said Miranda. "But we discovered that the Ark was in fact a Forerunner device that could remotely activate the entire Halo network. All 7—well 6 that are left will fire simultaneously. And with each of them firing, their range will wipe out all of sentient life in the galaxy."

"We have to stop him," Kiryuu rumbled, the black pupil contracting into a slit on the screen.

"I'm insisting that we set up a strategic base near the Ark," said Lord Hood.

"We do have a base," Kiryuu leaned back from the screen till his whole head was just filling it up. "The Crow's Nest."

"I was thinking the same thing, Mr. President," Lord Hood nodded. "Commander, I'll need you to head down there and set up shop."

"Yes, sir," Miranda nodded.

"I shall accompany her," said Otto. "I promised Telek I would keep her safe."

"Keep me posted," said Kiryuu. "And Cujo, stay out of Antarctica."

Cujo snorted a laugh and whistled through his mandibles.

"There is one other thing," said Miranda. "Mr. President, it's about the Flood."

"I've read the report on them," said Kiryuu. "These creatures are some sort of parasite that bores into one's heart and takes over their body, turning their bodies into rotting flesh?"

"Yes," said Miranda. "But they have managed to take control of the Covenant capital city High Charity."

"High Charity has slipspace capabilities," said Cujo. "The Forerunners built the Halos to contain the virus and keep it from spreading."

"The Flood we found on that Halo were intelligent," said Otto. "Highly intelligent. They could use our vehicles and our ships."

"They hijacked my ship," said Miranda. "Took it to High Charity."

"There is this entity called the Gravemind controlling the Flood," said Otto. "He is highly intelligent and he speaks in riddles."

Kiryuu blinked as he slowly began to read Otto's thoughts when Otto called up the memories of Gravemind.

_I am the monument to all your sins…_

Kiryuu heard the voice ring out from Otto and he growled. He had heard that voice before and he knew it so very well. He saw the image of Gravemind as a faint memory grazed across Otto's own mind. Then, the image of Gravemind became washed out with the glowing tendrils of gold as a new shape took its place. It had three heads, two tails, and a voice like a bell.

_King Ghidorah?_ He thought. _Is it possible? Is this what you have become?_

"What will happen?" Kiryuu asked.

"We're hoping that since Truth took _Dreadnaught_ with him," began Cujo. "That means High Charity will not be able to travel under its own power. _Dreadnaught _was the ship that powered the city."

"So, it means the parasite has been thwarted for now," Otto nodded.

"Then, I will not further be concerned about it," Kiryuu rumbled. "We must focus on the problem at hand. Truth is coming here, and we need to be ready for him. Whatever this Ark is, it is important to him. He'll no doubt stop to go look for it. Keep me posted." He sighed. "I shall remain here."

The screen clicked off and Lord Hood turned to the others: "Commander, get to the Crow's Nest. Colonel Norrington, you will assist her with a new platoon of Marines."

"Yes, sir," Norrington nodded.

"Cujo, you and your ships will join the fleet in guarding Earth," said Hood.

"No problem," said Cujo. "Wago, I hope you don't mind joining us as well."

"No," said Wago.

"I'll gather up the others," said Cujo. "You take the Commander to the Crow's Nest."

Wago nodded.

"Dismissed," Hood saluted. "And good luck to you all. We'll do what we can from up here. Do you know when they'll arrive?"

"Soon," replied the Arbiter. "And that's all I know."

"We don't have very much time," sighed Lord Hood. "Get to your posts."

As they all filed out of the briefing room, Otto glanced over at Cujo and walked up to him.

"This Mr. Knight," he began. "What is he?"

"I had a feeling you might ask that," Cujo said. He brought up the holographic projector and turned it on, showing the Arbiter the old news real of the monster known as Godzilla destroying downtown Tokyo from 1954. "This is what he is."

"What sort of creature is this?" Otto asked.

"Gojira," Cujo replied. "That is what the Japanese called Kiryuu when he was alive."

"Alive?" Otto asked.

"Kiryuu is a reanimated monstrosity," Cujo replied. "A machine built on the frame work of the dead bones of Gojira."

"A machine?" Otto breathed. "He is a construct?"

"Yes," Cujo replied. "A construct that runs over the administration of the UNSC. I know, wild isn't it?"

"He is enormous," Otto breathed. "Gravemind is bigger though."

"I noticed the expression Kiryuu gave when you mentioned Gravemind," said Cujo. "Looks like he also poked around in your head too. He looked worried."

"Poked around in my head?" Otto asked.

"Kiryuu is psychic," Cujo replied. "He's a telepath. I don't know how a machine would gain such an ability and Kiryuu's never told us how he got it, but he is one. And he's damned powerful too. He could read mind from across the stars. It's scary what that guy can do. I wouldn't suggest getting on his bad side. You don't want a 60-meter tall cybernetic, radioactive dinosaur on your ass. And he has a nasty case of halitosis."

"Bad breath?" asked Otto. Cujo again pulled up another real, this time one of Kiryuu fighting a monster labeled Titanosaurus who attacked Florida once in the early 21st Century.

"This is Kiryuu," said Cujo. "And this is Titanosaurus."

Otto watched just as Kiryuu's spines lit up bright purple-white. He blasted what appeared to be some sort of powerful plasma gas from his mouth and vaporized the opposing monster. The breath itself left a shiny, glassed trail on the sandy beach. Otto gasped and stepped back.

"Don't get on his bad side," warned Cujo. "Okay? Our ships can glass things, well, so can Kiryuu glass things with that nasty breath. Telek absolutely hates him though. But, he hates Truth more than Kiryuu."

"Why does Telek hate this Mr. Knight?" asked Otto.

"Because he sees a bit of Truth inside Kiryuu," said Cujo. "Kiryuu's a manipulative bastard with the ability to see straight through you. Just something about him makes Telek cringe. I don't blame him. I cringe too when I hear his name."

"Well," began Otto. "The only thing I care is whether or not Telek will make it here safely. I'm not going to worry about this Mr. Knight…monster construct or leader of the humans, it doesn't matter to me."

Cujo shrugged: "I better get back to my ship."

"Cujo," began Otto. "What is it that Mr. Knight was concerned about when he stated you were snooping around this Antarctica?"

"Antarctica is a frozen continent at the south pole of Earth," said Cujo. "You probably saw the southern ice cap when you came here. That's what's under the ice. And as for what's really down there, Kiryuu's got a little secret he's been hiding since 2007. I picked it up a couple of weeks ago after Telek left to pursue Regret. I scanned the area and there's a spot there that's radioactively hot. Not only that, but Kiryuu's old company the Utah Foundation owns a private retreat there right near that hot spot. I did a little snooping and found out that Kiryuu sent the current Godzilla's body to Antarctica after he blasted him with this weapon called the AZC. It's some sort of old freeze ray built 500 years ago for Kiryuu. Kiryuu reported that he killed Godzilla, but I don't think so. I don't think he did. There are people here who believe that Kiryuu's more than just a cyborg built on top of the original Godzilla's bones, he is in fact the original Godzilla brought back to life. If that's so, then the current Godzilla that's down in that base is Kiryuu's son. Why would he kill his own son?

"Telek once ordered me when we first joined the UNSC to dig up some dirt we could use on Kiryuu as leverage if Kiryuu double-crossed us. Telek's paranoid. I didn't think Kiryuu would. But Telek never belayed the order, so, I had to find something. I found a few skeletons here and there inside President Mechagodzilla's closet, but nothing as big as this. The only problem is I got caught. Oh, Telek's not gonna be happy. But I don't think I have to worry about that now. We'll be focused on Truth coming here."

"And that's the only thing you should focus on, Cujo," said Otto. "Don't worry about Mr. Knight's secrets."

"You're right on that," Cujo sighed. "It's not gonna matter anyway. He's out of office in a few months. Kiryuu promised, before he would leave office, to end this war. I think this is it, I think that this will end the war."

"I hope it ends swiftly," Otto agreed. "With Truth's death."


	4. Mirand's New Pet

**Miranda's New Pet**

A green Phantom flew slowly down into the one of the holes of the landing bays in the Crow's Nest. The Crow's Nest was a deep underground base that was built back in the late 20th Century by the United States for a policing action for the United Nations. It was an old base, but it was good enough for what the UNSC needed to keep an eye on things in Mombasa.

The Green Phantoms, a new type of transport that was placed on board Wago 'Tawunee's assault carrier. So far, his carrier was the only one that was outfitted with them, however, they were not used during the assault on New Mombasa. These new Phantoms had the ability to cloak but they were so few in numbers that Regret did not want to implement them just yet. Originally, these Phantoms were painted the usual purple metallic colors, but Wago had a better idea to help in differentiate these Phantoms from the Covenant Loyalists ones. He wanted to paint them the Army Green color that the Marines painted their Pelicans with. He began to realize that though the Army Green was rather an ugly color, it served well for camouflage against a green background and the added cloaks made the transport ships far more superior to that of what was in the Covenant right now. His ship was the only one outfitted with these Green Phantoms and they were currently in production on Sanghelios. That meant that only the Sangheili would have them, another tactful advantages over the Jiralhanae, Wago had to add.

This particular Phantom was being flown by the Arbiter, who had on board Commander Keyes, and as well as Doc Erin, Spec Ops Officer Ysoa and Commander Shri and a few other Special Operations Sangheili bearing the Jolly Roger on their armor. Johnson on the other hand was flying in a Pelican, checking out the strange structure under the lakebed along with Colonel Norrington. Already, they sent word to the Crow's Nest to inform them that the approaching Phantom meant no harm to the base. The _Regret and Reconciliation _hovered quietly above the base. The Phantom slowly descended into the landing bay and hovered just a bit allowing their passengers to exit the gravity lift below. A co-pilot took control of the craft as the Arbiter left the cockpit and descended down the gravity lift. He glanced up just as the Phantom flew off through the hole up at the top. Doors closed with mechanical sounds and squeaks of barely lubricated gears. Otto glanced about the dingy, rusted base inside the old cavern below the ground.

"Wow," said Shri. "This place looks old."

"Almost 500 years old," said Miranda. "Built in the late 1990s. We've been keeping the maintenance up as best as we could."

"Werc ecnanetniam eht erif ot deen uoy ekil skool," she whispered. Erin elbowed her in the side. Shri glanced back. "What?!"

Erin just shook his head: "It's a nice place, Miranda."

"It's a dump," echoed another voice. Miranda glanced up to see Gunnery Sergeant Stacker walk down the ramp. He paused and saluted. "Commander Keyes."

"Gunnery Sergeant Stacker," Miranda returned the salute.

"Ma'am," Stacker nodded. "Shop's all set up, Commander. Lord Hood ordered road blocks on the Tsavo Highway."

"There is no doubt about it now," said Miranda. "The Covenant is going to return."

Stacker sighed: "I kinda figured that, ma'am."

"As you know, this is Dr. Erin 'Venamee," began Miranda. "Zealot rank. And this is Spec Ops Commander Shri 'Canthonee and her second in command Ysoa 'Argamee. And this is the Arbiter Otto 'Gamamee. The Sangheili are making an alliance with us—all of them."

"We do need the help," Stacker said. "The previous commander of this base had already received his orders and left. But he left something that you need to see."

"Something?" Miranda asked.

"If you don't mind," Stacker began. "Please, follow me."

As they walked down through the rusty, moss-covered corridors of the base, Otto glanced around for a moment to gather in how the base was built. Some of the corridors were wide enough to allow light armor to roll through, which he noted by a Warthog driving down. Erin was thinking to himself, wondering just how bad the fight will soon become. He was no warrior, he was no fighter, he was a healer, a doctor. Despite the fact he wore the armor of a Zealot, he rarely saw combat. He did not even carry a plasma sword, mostly because he was not an aristocrat like Telek, Otto, and Shri were. His various promotions with the Covenant were determined on how well he followed orders and how many warriors' lives he saved through is expert medical training. He had a feeling that he would see more lives on the cutting table again very soon.

"Are the medical facilities well stocked?" Erin asked Stacker.

"They are," Stacker replied. "I'm guessin' because the Commander called you doctor that you're the medic."

"Head surgeon," Erin replied. "Was the head surgeon on the _Shade of Darkness_, now, I suppose since the trade, I'm the Commander's head surgeon."

"Temporarily," said Miranda. "Until Telek returns Flynn to me. Telek needed information on the Ark and Flynn knew somebody who could give it to him."

"I heard that somebody was a Great Eastern Dragon," Norrington chuckled. "Normally the wyrms don't leave Earth, but this one could."

"Dragon?" Otto asked. "I'm unfamiliar with that word. What is a dragon?"

"You're about to see in a second," Stacker chuckled. "We got one right here."

Miranda paused: "Excuse me? There's a dragon inside the Crow's Nest?"

Stacker just chuckled: "Yep."

"Is that the something the other commander left?" Miranda asked.

"Yep," Stacker replied. "We picked him up not just a few hours ago before you arrived. He broke through the roadblock on the Tsavo Highway. Actually, he stepped over it. It was reported he wanted to get arrested. Then, he escaped for a moment, flew over that site where that Covenant ship accidently unearthed some sort of alien artifact when that ship destroyed Mombasa. We had to take him down with a couple of Pelicans and some Scorpion tanks."

"Why did he try to break through the roadblock?" asked Miranda.

"Because he wanted to find out what happened to New Mombasa's Space Elevator," said Stacker, leading them further down to the detention area of the base. "Because he built it."

"Built it?" Miranda asked. "Wait a moment…"

Stacker led them down a tight corridor and he stopped at the end to a door.

"Open up," he ordered the Marine who unlocked it.

"You're not talking about…" Miranda breathed as the door opened. She glanced inside to see a gaunt, tall, business-dressed man with graying ash-blonde hair lying on the dirty mattress. His coat was slung over a rusting chair and he laid down with his arms crossed behind his head. Miranda finally finished her sentence with a gasp: "Lofwyr…"

At the sound of his name, the man sat up.

"Get off the bed, wizwyrm," Stacker said. "You've got visitors."

"I appreciate it if you wouldn't call me that," Lofwyr growled.

"Wizwyrm is an insult to dragons," Stacker chuckled his explanation to the Sangheili. "They hate being called that. It's like us calling you guys squids."

"And we dragons call you humans two-legged, soft bodies," Lofwyr growled.

"Cut the crap, Goldilocks," Stacker said. "I'd like you to meet the new commander of the base, Commander Miranda Keyes."

"Master Lofwyr…" Miranda breathed. "I'm shocked that you're here."

"I'm more than astonished by the destruction caused to New Mombasa," Lofwyr began. "Which is why I'm here. All I want to do is make a personal assessment of that damage and I will be on my way, but no one here is willing to allow me near the city."

"That's because we have a feeling the Covenant will come back," said Stacker.

"They are coming back," said Miranda. "Very soon. It isn't safe for civilians, Great Western Dragons or regular humans, it isn't safe. You should leave, Lofwyr."

"If the Covenant truly will return," Lofwyr began. "Then nowhere on Earth is it safe. This whole planet will be nothing more than a barren ball of black glass." He paused and glanced away sadly. "Just like Reach."

"No, the Covenant deem this planet to be valuable," began Otto. "Because of the Ark. They won't glass it, not just yet."

Lofwyr raised his head and looked back at the four alien beings standing with Miranda. Many times has he heard of the reports on the Sangheili and even saw pictures of them attacking UNSC Marines in combat, but this was the first time he had ever met them personally. They looked just as alien as he suspected with their mandible mouths and satyr-like legs. They were much taller than the humans as well. These were the creatures that glassed Reach.

"Elites," he began. "I've seen pictures of your kind before."

"Sangheili, to be exact," said Erin. "And don't think I haven't heard your name, Lofwyr Goldensout. The CEO of the Saeder-Krupp, the builder of the ships on Reach. You lost a lot of factories on that planet, no wonder you take Reach rather personally. That's what I heard too."

"You've met this human?" Otto asked.

"Never met him," Erin shrugged.

"Telek says that Kiryuu talks about him a lot," said Shri. "That's how we know."

"And I'm no human," Lofwyr growled. "This is merely a convenient disguise."

"Not much of a disguise when everyone knows what you really are," said Erin. "He just uses that shape because it's more convenient for him to move around in. Not many places around Earth are big enough for a 200-foot long, winged reptile to walk around in."

Lofwyr's face softened slightly when he saw the Jolly Roger painted on the armor of the Zealot. He had heard stories of Telek 'Herosee and his infamous band of renegade separatist Sangheili pirates. Though Reach was glassed, Lofwyr had to thank Telek for his efforts to commandeer Covenant ships to replace what was lost. Of course these Sangheili with the Jolly Roger on their armor would know of what a dragon was after hearing that word a few times. This other Sangheili, the one with the archaic looking armor, he was of some concern to Lofwyr, and not because of his ignorance to the Western Dragon's own people.

"You're a few of Telek's pirates," Lofwyr smiled. "He has my gratitude."

"Well, if and when Telek returns," began Erin. "You can tell him yourself."

"Lofwyr," began Miranda. "You can't stay here."

"I'm afraid, Commander," began Lofwyr. "If you are insisting upon escorting me back to the blockade, I will attempt to refuse. I don't think you can afford the loss of your men at this time, or the destruction of some of your vehicles."

"And I wish to inform you that although you are a dragon, you are not above the law," said Miranda. "You're not allowed to be here. When the Covenant come, they will be coming here. They won't be stopping anywhere else. You are safer in Essen, Germany, than you are here. Great Dragon or not, I don't think you can go up against Covenant warships."

"I am not leaving, Commander," Lofwyr began. "I think I have a right to do what I please with my life at this point. I've lived through a lot more battles than you have."

"But not battles like this," said Miranda. "The battles you've lived through were battles fought with swords, arrows, and catapults. This is different."

"I'm still not leaving," Lofwyr protested, crossing his arms. "And your men have not the strength to drag me out."

"Maybe not the physical strength," Miranda agreed. "Fine. The last thing I want happen is for my own men to fire upon a citizen regardless to what species he is. Fine, you may do as you please, but stay out of our way and get to cover when the Covenant comes. The last thing we need is a Great Dragon being held prisoner by Truth. If this base has to be evacuated, you are to leave as well, understand?"

"Of course," Lofwyr nodded.

Miranda sighed and walked out the cell, followed by Stacker and Norrington.

"I can't believe you're gonna let the wizwyrm stay," Stacker sighed.

"As long as he doesn't get in the way of things," said Miranda. "I don't see the harm."

Lofwyr followed the Sangheili out, keeping a slight grin on his face. Again, he has won another argument.

"I'm Erin 'Venamee," said Erin, holding his hand to Lofwyr. "Head surgeon."

"Shri 'Canthonee, Telek's head Special Operations Commander," said Shri. "And my second in command Ysoa 'Argamee. That's Otto 'Gamamee. He was the Supreme Commander of the fleet Telek belonged to, but now he has been made into the Arbiter."

"My fleet was responsible for the glassing of Reach," Otto rumbled deeply.

"A part of me wants to kill you and devour you right now," Lofwyr growled.

"As Telek has said many times," began Otto. "'I was only doing what I was ordered to do.'"

"I suppose getting angry at the one just following orders is the incorrect method," Lofwyr began. "I should be angrier at the one who ordered it."

"That was Truth," said Shri. "And he's heading here right now."

"I still don't understand," began Otto. "They call you a dragon. I have no idea what a dragon is, but I know a human when I see one. You do not look like anything else but human. Though, I have noted that you have a distinct scent that the humans don't share."

"Sulfur," said Lofwyr. "You smell that?"

"Yes," said Otto.

"Western Dragons tend to smell like sulfur," he replied. "My scent isn't as strong because I use cologne to cover it."

"I still don't see other than the smell how you differ from a human," Otto continued. "What is the difference between a human and a dragon?"

Miranda and the others stopped cold in their tracks. Erin knew the difference and so did Shri. They have seen pictures of dragons. One dragon named Ghostwalker who was believed to be the younger brother of the late President Dunkelzahn, trashed Denver within a few hours and Shri and Erin had seen videos of that. They even have seen videos of Lofwyr in his dragon form fighting against his brother Alamaise over parts of Eastern Europe, and of course that battle between Lofwyr and the Great Feathered Serpent Malcho over the East Coast of North America. Otto felt the stare of eyes from the group and he was rather confused as to why they stared. Even Erin and Shri and Ysoa stared with shock at him.

"I'm sorry," he began. "Did I ask a wrong question?"

"It was more like: 'Oh, my God, I can't believe you don't know the difference'," began Shri.

"Is a demonstration in order?" Lofwyr asked.

"You don't have room, Goldie," said Stacker. He pulled a pocket mirror from his belt and tossed it to Otto. "Hold that up to his face, Arbiter."

Otto nodded and held up the mirror in front of Lofwyr.

"Now, look at his reflection," said Stacker.

Otto leaned down and looked at the reflection in the mirror. He did not see the face of the gaunt human in the mirror; instead, he saw the reptilian visage of a golden-scaled creature he was unfamiliar with. This creature sported a long, toothy snout, horns, a mane, and even frilled ears. This reflection was what Lofwyr really looked like.

"That's a dragon, Arbiter," said Stacker. "That form he's taking on right now is an illusion. His shadow and his reflection show what he really is."

"And I thought seeing Mr. Knight for the first time was shocking," Otto breathed, handing Stacker the mirror. "What sort of world is this?"

"Just our home, Arbiter," said Miranda. "You didn't think the humans were the only intelligent beings on Earth, did you?

"I'm surprised I have yet to meet any more of your kind," said Otto.

"Outside of Earth, you wouldn't," said Lofwyr. "We can't leave this world. There are exceptions. One is Manda, the Great Eastern Dragon of Atlantis, and other I suspect is Malcho."

"Manda is the one heading to Telek to give him information on the Ark to tell the Sangheili Council, Otto," said Erin. He saw Otto's still disbelieving expression. "Don't worry. This is the first time I've met a dragon too. We've just seen pictures."

"But still, when you heard that word, you knew what to expect," said Otto. "You knew what to expect of Mr. Knight as well."

"Not to be insulting of our hosts," began Shri. "But yeah, this place is strange, very strange. There's something about Earth, something strange. If Telek was here, he'd think that the strange stuff that goes on this planet was the thing that brought the Forerunners here to study it."

"Forgive me for saying so," Otto began. "But your real form reminds me of the drawings of Harodihg without the two extra heads."

"Harodihg?" Lofwyr asked.

"You call him Monster Zero," said Erin.

"The Gold Hydra Demon?" Lofwyr's eyes widened. "King Ghidorah? You know who King Ghidorah is? And you think I look like him?"

"Not a good thing to say," said Stacker.

"He didn't mean it, Lofwyr," said Miranda.

"King Ghidorah has slaughtered many of my kind," said Lofwyr. "We're nothing alike."

"Harodihg has done some nasty things to our planet too," said Erin.

"As important as this may seem," began Miranda. "We do need to go to the Ops Center. Lord Hood is waiting. I suppose you'll join us, Master Lofwyr?"

"Yes," Lofwyr gasped, still miffed by Otto's words. "I will."

"Good," she said. "I hope you will explain to Lord Hood why you were flying around that structure under the Voi Lake."

As they went into the Ops Center, Miranda glanced around to see all the technicians setting up the screens.

"How's the connection?" she asked.

"It's good," replied one of the technicians. "We got him."

The screen flashed on and the image of Lord Hood came on.

"Commander?" he asked. "Are you all set up?"

"Yes, sir," she replied.

"Good," said Lord Hood. "I've also got Cujo on the other line."

The screen split in two and Cujo's face appeared on the other section.

"I've been keeping an eye on things," said Cujo. "They are getting really close. We're receiving some strange whispers again coming from Io. It won't be long now."

"Sir," began Miranda. "We have a guest here as well."

"Guest?" Hood asked.

Miranda glanced back as Lofwyr stepped forward. Lord Hood's eyes widened.

"I'll be damned," he whispered. "Lofwyr. What the hell are you doing here?"

"My business is with assessing the damage to the Space Elevator in New Mombasa," he replied.

"I don't recall you making personal visits," Hood snorted. "Get him outta there! That's an order!"

"Sir," began Miranda. "Lofwyr might know something about the Ark."

"Ark?" Lofwyr asked.

"Really?" Lord Hood asked. "Alright, Lofwyr, what do you know?"

Lofwyr looked over at Miranda confusingly and shook his head.

"Lofwyr," said Miranda. "That structure. Is that the Ark?"

"Many thousands of years ago," began the Great Dragon. "Before I was born, aliens came to this planet and built a structure. They saved Primitive Man from a terrible weapon—a weapon they built and fired to destroy the Demon Hydra."

"You're talking about Monster Zero," said Miranda.

"But you're also talking about the Parasite," said Otto. "The Flood. And these aliens you speak of were the Forerunners."

"I've heard those word many times," said Lofwyr. "That structure in the lakebed. We called it the Device. The Device was activated when we Dragons were in our Shal-Mora sleep because there was no magic at the time to sustain us. Well, most of us were asleep, except for two. Manda and Malcho."

"When the Device was activated," began Miranda. "The Ark, that's what you're talking about. It activated the Halo rings. Manda and Malcho should have been killed. How did they survive?"

"The only thing I recall Malcho saying was he was in the company of the Great Library of Alexandria," Lofwyr shrugged. "Manda—well we've never really spoken to each other. I don't know his story except the part where the Forerunners took him and altered him. To us, he's not a dragon anymore, he's a mutation created from their technology. To be more specific, he's a cyborg."

"Manda's part machine…" breathed Miranda.

"Manda is the one who knows what the Device does," said Lofwyr. "But I have no doubts that so does Malcho."

"Is that structure what you call the Device, is it the Ark?" Otto asked.

"Malcho described it as a portal," said Lofwyr. "These were the stories he told me when I was young and he was my mentor. He said that the Forerunners took the primitive humans into their ships. He said there was something in the middle of the Device that was needed to activate it. It was a ship, something he called a Key Ship. This ship shot a beam into the sky as the Device opened up and it created a portal. Then, the ships departed, going inside the portal, taking the humans with them."

"Where did they take them?" Miranda asked.

Lofwyr pointed to the ceiling of the cave: "Up there, somewhere. I don't know. Malcho sensed something was wrong after that and he said the Horrors came."

"Horrors?" Cujo asked.

"The Horrors," began Lord Hood. "Are the demon spawn of Monster Zero, from what we learned from President Knight's many reports over the 500 years since the Sixth World began."

"The Horrors," began Lofwyr. "Take on many forms. I'm sure that a few of you Sangheili have heard of the stories about wraiths, banshees, ghouls, and all sorts of other creatures. Maybe you've heard about the Invae, insect creatures that can bite into a living creature and possess them, mutating them into insect monstrosities."

"Sounds like the Flood almost," said Erin.

"These monsters are the Horrors," replied Lofwyr. "They are the collective conscience of King Ghidorah. The Flood and the Horrors are the same."

"The Invae still exist," said Lord Hood. "We've got them contained in Chicago, what we refer to as the Bug City Containment Zone. Kiryuu, prior to becoming the President of the UNSC, fired off a weapon of unknown origins to destroy most of them. It didn't destroy them all and so, there's a shield built around the city to keep them from spreading. And we regularly fire off plasma explosions to sterilize the land. The whole state of Illinois is uninhabitable because of that. At one time, though, the entire eastern half of North America was crawling with those things. Kiryuu said the Invae were trying to reform a body for Monster Zero to come back and attack our planet again like he did in 2007. It took everything we got to fight them back. That was when we resorted to Technomancy. This planet went to hell in a hand basket, which is why we started searching elsewhere for other planets to live on. We just couldn't stand it."

"Well," began Lofwyr. "When the Horrors came, that was when Malcho said the whole sky lit up bright white. The planet trembled as this wave of blue-white light washed over it. He said he saw the Horrors scream in pain and then die off. This light only affected their possessed bodies, but the parasites that possessed these bodies were still alive and they withdrew."

"The Halos," said Miranda. "They fired and it killed the hosts that the Flood possessed."

"We dragons survived it because of Shal-Mora," said Lofwyr. "They did not possess us because they could not find us. We awoke centuries later to a Horror-free Earth. By that time, the primitive humans returned but their time up in the stars had faded into nothing more than myths and stories. What we did find was that a new city had been built in the Atlantic Ocean. This city was called Atlantis, the new home for the remaining aliens that saved the humans."

"The Atlanteans are the Forerunners," Miranda smiled.

"Through the centuries though, even they lost a bit of their history," Lofwyr Continued. "And then King Ghidorah returned. The Atlanteans managed to fight off King Ghidorah, but they knew he would return again, so they attempted to rely on their ancestors' great technology to fight him off with. It proved fatal for them and their great, technologically-advanced city sank beneath the waves. The Atlanteans that were left were scattered all over the globe and they mingled with the other humans until I suppose genetically you couldn't tell them apart. And that's the truth."

"Why didn't they use the Device again?" asked Otto.

"The Device was buried when the aliens returned," said Lofwyr. "They didn't want it to be used again. Also, the Atlanteans only possessed one part of the key to activate the device. They needed the other part, the ship."

"And what is this one part?" Lord Hood asked.

"The first Tower to ever be built on Earth," replied Lofwyr. "The Tower of Atlantis. But the Tower, from what Malcho had told me, cannot work without a Key Ship."

"How the hell does Malcho know this?" Lord Hood cried.

"Because he has the Tower of Atlantis," Cujo replied.

"How the hell do you know that?" Lord Hood asked.

"Mr. Knight wasn't the only one who caught me snooping," Cujo chuckled. "Malcho caught me too."

"I'm gonna have a talk with Telek about you, Cujo," Lord Hood growled.

"The Covenant then may not only come back to Africa," began Miranda. "They might be heading for North America too."

"God damn Malcho," Lofwyr growled. "And I have no doubt he's still using Technomancy despite the ban. He brought this on himself!"

"Well, having that Tower will open a huge can of trouble for him when the Covenant come," said Cujo. "Lord Hood, if you don't mind, Mitsu and I can hover around Lexington, Kentucky."

"Alright," Lord Hood said. "Someone has to warn Malcho. I believe it's still the early hours of the morning. The sun hasn't even risen there yet."

"Don't warn him," protested Lofwyr. "This is his fault."

"I don't care about your little grievance that you have with Malcho," began Lord Hood. "I will warn him myself, if I have to."

Lofwyr let loose an inhuman growl and turned away. For once he would love to see that pompous, overbearing Feathered Serpent go down for his mistakes. This would have been his chance to see that, but Lord Hood would ruin that plan.

"Cujo, I've heard that you have been in contact with Malcho before," began Lord Hood. "Warn him of the coming attack."

"I just hope he's in a good mood," smiled Cujo. Suddenly, an alarm went off inside Cujo's ship. "Uh-oh. Lord Hood, guess who just showed up for dinner."

Another screen flashed on showing a rather large fleet of Covenant warships breaking out of slipspace.

"This fleet isn't as big as I thought was going to be," said Lord Hood.

"This is just the first wave," began Otto.

"Is Truth's ship among them?" asked Miranda.

"Negative," replied Cujo. "I don't see _Dreadnaught_ anywhere. He'll probably come in on the next wave."

"Cujo, you and Mitsu shove off to Lexington," said Lord Hood. "Warn Malcho."

"Aye, aye," said Cujo. "Looks like we have some tailgaters too. My ship's heading for the direction of North America and there's a carrier and three cruisers following me. They know what I'm trying to do."

"Be careful, Shipmaster," said Miranda.

"Don't worry," smiled Cujo. "I'll make sure they won't turn Malcho into a stylish feather duster."

"Feather duster?" Otto asked.

"Malcho's a dragon too," said Stacker.

"This planet really is strange," he sighed, shaking his head.


	5. Lexington Invasion

**Lexington Invasion**

"Those cruisers are closing in fast, Shipmaster," warned Cujo's helmsman.

"Aft cannons," Cujo ordered. "Fire! Mitsu, cover me! I'll make a break for Lexington and contact Malcho."

"Alright," said Mitsu. "But I can't hold that carrier off for long."

"I can," called another voice over the speakers. Cujo pulled up the image of another carrier, the _Regret and Reconciliation _flying swiftly towards the enemy carrier. "Get going, Cujo."

"No problem," Cujo smiled. His ship dove down below the atmosphere just as Wagon and Mitsu engaged the perusing Covenant cruisers and carrier. He saw the town of Lexington lit up by all the streetlights. The Luminary glowed brightly before Cujo and the familiar Forerunner symbol showed up in cyan that indicated a large amount of Forerunner technology was down there in that city. Cujo, from the moment he turned the Luminary on since he wondered why the Covenant came here the first time showed him exactly what that answer was. "How much you wanna bet he's still asleep."

"Shall I start the transmission?" asked the Sangheili at tactical.

"Patch me through," Cujo said.

0

A soft chime slowly awoke Malcho from one of his rather strange dreams. Every night for the past 30 years, it had been the same as it was that first night. He was being warned of something, that voice calling out to him, telling him he must lead the Reclaimers into the Portal to the Ark. He opened his eyes up when he heard that chime again.

"_¿Cuál ahora él?"_ he growled, giving a shake to his feathers. Malcho swiftly reverted into his human form, that of a tan, riveting Mexican with shoulder-length, black hair and sparkling, magenta eyes. Though, even in this form, he showed some of his age. His shimmering, jet-black hair was laced with silver and his face was touched rather handsomely with hairline wrinkles. He straightened out his emerald green tie and waved a hand, pulling up a floating, trideo screen. He let loose a growl as the screen flashed on.

"This had better be good," he called.

"Malcho!" a familiar face, but alien appeared upon the screen.

"Cujo?" Malcho asked. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Shipmaster!" called the helmsman. "One of the cruisers broke through."

"You hear that?" Cujo asked. "We're under attack. Cloak the ship, helmsman."

"Aye, sir."

"¿Qué?" Malcho asked.

"The Covenant is here, Malcho," Cujo called. "And they're heading straight for your town."

Malcho chuckled: "Let them come. I'll show them not to attack my planet."

"No…" Cujo gasped. "Don't do what I think you're about to do."

Malcho took the screen with him to show Cujo just what it was. He snapped his fingers and the room opened up one panel at a time. The room soon turned into a balcony overlooking an enormous, luscious tropical park. Since the climate change that happened in the early 22nd Century, much of the Southeast had turned into a dry, but tropical place. The oaks, firs, birch, and other temperate trees were replaced with trees that could be found in places like the Bahamas. On the other side of the park were various warehouses that belonged to his company's main building. That was when he saw several orbital drop-pods drop down from the sky right in front of that very warehouse. The pods opened up, revealing the Brutes inside.

¿Qué chinga usted le piensa está haciendo?" Malcho bellowed. "¡Consiga lejos de allí! ¡Consiga de mi característica! ¡Le mataré!"

"I knew this was a bad idea coming down here and waking up the crazy idiot lizard," Cujo sighed.

"Don't call me crazy, puto," Malcho chuckled. He glanced up, seeing the advancing Covenant ships above him. The whole city of Lexington came on alert despite it being in the early hours of the morning. Malcho glanced up, seeing the, twinkling blue lights under the surface of the Covenant ships. His keen eyes caught the faint fluctuation going through the clouds and he chuckled. He recognized that shape anywhere, despite it being cloaked. It was the _Divine Journey. _

"I'm getting you out of there, Malcho," called Cujo.

"No!" he called. "I'll handle this myself."

With that, Malcho reverted back into his dragon form and flew off.

"Damn it…" Cujo sighed, realizing Malcho just left the trideo screen on. "Fine, just leave me here…whatever. Helmsman, fire plasma torpedoes. Let's beat the crap outta that ship."

Malcho flapped his brilliantly colored wings as fast as he could down towards where the warehouse was. Warehouse workers and various security personnel fired upon the advancing Brute forces. Several Brutes armed with Fuel Rod Cannons pounded the door with green explosions as other Brutes rushed and mauled the personnel. Unfortunately for Malcho, these were not Technomancers, they followed the rules. Malcho paused in his flight just as he saw the Brutes broke through the warehouse.

"_No, no mi almacén…"_ he sighed as the Brutes entered through the doors. He glanced back and saw another explosion happen behind him. Several Phantoms pelted the headquarters with their Shade turrets, dropping off more Brute forces along with Jackals and Grunts. _"Caramba, no mis caseros. What am I going to do?"_

Just then an explosion seared his back, knocking him out of the sky. Malcho plummeted into the park below, crashing into the trees and snapping them flat. Though he was an ancient dragon, he could survive a fall like that. Malcho waveringly rose up and glanced to the sky, seeing two Seraph fighters bank off, raining down more plasma upon the city of Lexington. Malcho thanked that he was immune to fire. He glanced around at his beloved city that he had grown to call his home for almost 600 years now. The glow of torrent fires laced the horizon as the skyscrapers toppled. He heard sirens scream in the distance and black clouds billowing up to cover the starlit sky. His city was in ruins. Malcho glanced back at his Aztec pyramid lair, seeing it now engulfed in flames and black smoke as the Covenant forces invaded his most private quarters. He shook off the scorch dust from his back and he let loose another growl. He glanced up, hearing another explosion as the _Divine Journey _engaged the attacking cruiser. His eyes turned over to the left seeing two Covenant carriers battling each other. Unfortunately without the Jolly Roger, he could not tell which carrier was on his side and which was not. A destroyer battled with the second cruiser.

"_Gringos," _he growled. _"I will teach you all a lesson never to come to my city."_

With that, he took off again, landing on top of his smoking headquarters. His senses picked up that he was not alone for behind him flew two Banshees in hot pursuit. Malcho banked off and pumped his wings, gaining speed as he made his way towards the fiery inferno that was downtown Lexington. The two Banshees fired upon him, shooting their blue plasma. Malcho dipped his wing to allow the first plasma pelt to shoot past him, but the second was true. He felt the burn of the plasma on his feathers, but this did not slow him down. Two more Banshees swung in and now it became a dogfight through the buildings, firing upon the Feathered Serpent. Malcho wove between the buildings and down narrow alleys with the Banshees following him, continuing to pelt him and the buildings with plasma. Malcho made one sharp turn and headed for two glassy walkways between two buildings, one walk way was above the other. Folding his wings up, he shot between the two walkways. Three Banshees shot through as well, but one impacted on the top of the walkway, shattering it and sending fire and glass down. Malcho folded his wings again and quickly lost speed, allowing the three remaining Banshees to shoot past him. Malcho grinned and arched his neck, belching his flames at one of the Banshees. The fireball impacted and the Banshee was sent hurtling towards a glassy tower, exploding into its side. Malcho sped passed the explosion, chasing after the other two Banshees. Pumping his wings even more, Malcho caught up with one of the Banshees in front of him. The Banshee began to barrel roll just as Malcho snapped his jaws at it. Malcho growled and opened his jaws wide, hooking the Banshee's 'wing' in his teeth. Snapping his jaw shut, he broke the 'wing' off and the Banshee spiraled down into the ground, exploding upon a Wraith Tank. There was one more Banshee to take care of. Malcho belched his flames again, the rolling fire thundered towards the last Banshee. The Banshee rolled away as the fire impacted upon a building, blowing an enormous chunk of it out onto the street below. Wraiths below lobbed plasma mortars towards Malcho and he dove down to allow their arc to fly passed him. He could hear the voice of the Brute inside the Banshee laugh mockingly as it sped on through the buildings. Malcho growled again, cursing his fatigue that he could not continue on. No one mocks a Dragon, not even aliens should mock a Dragon. Malcho wanted to teach the Covenant a lesson. He could not fly fast enough to catch up with the Banshee, but he could teleport ahead of the Banshee. With that, Malcho winked out of sight. The Banshee continued to fly high above the buildings, slowing down once the Brute noticed the Great Dragon had disappeared from his radar. Then, his radar flashed again and he glanced up noticing that Malcho had reappeared right above him.

"_Don't ever mess with a Dragon, muchacho," _Malcho growled.

With his bird-like feet claws outstretched, Malcho dove down and grappled the Banshee. He crushed the aircraft in his claws until it exploded in a brilliant nimbus of blue. With that, he disappeared again, teleporting himself on top of the main HQ of Omak. The Brutes growled in shock as they saw the massive, feathered creature suddenly appear before them. Malcho glanced down at the Brutes standing outside and they glanced up at him. They showed no fear; rather they showed confusion to what they saw. Though the Grunts and Jackals, despite the bravery of the Brutes, fled at the sight of the dragon. Malcho could sense their thoughts and heard words like 'beast' and 'strange animal'. One thought truly enraged him…_His feathers would make a fine trophy._

"_Trophy?" _Malcho growled. _"I am no beast, no animal. And my feathers are not trophies. And this is my city, my land. You are invading it, trespassing on it. I do not take kindly to trespassers."_

They raised their weapons at him and fired. The energy pelted upon an invisible surface right before Malcho's form. He had placed a shield around him. Malcho glanced down and smirked.

"_My turn," _he chuckled. The Great Feathered Serpent leaned down and exhaled. A green gas flowed out of his jaws, washing over the Brutes. Though at first, it appeared to do nothing to them. Within just a second, that all changed as the Brutes soon found themselves no longer Brutes. They were little squirrels, raccoons, and possums. The newly formed animals scurried away, ducking down into dark places to hide. Malcho gave a deep chuckle again, leaning back to touch the golden medallion around his neck. He glanced up to see the cruiser above his city now anchored with its gravity lift activated. He watched as two Scarabs dropped down from the lift and walk toward the area of the park. Malcho's eyes widened when he saw them fire their cannons downward. They started to excavate the little park. Malcho could not let them get to what was underneath the park. His greatest secret was hidden under there. Spreading his wings wide, he glided down towards the Scarabs and belched forth his flames at one of them. The other looked up, firing its green beam at the Feathered Serpent. Malcho banked, allowing the beam to pass beneath his wing. His tail swung down and the killing barb of his stinger came out from behind the plume of feathers at the tip of his tail. The barb impaled upon the Scarab and Malcho pumped the Lekgolo worms that were controlling the machine full of his acid. The machine toppled down to its knees as the acid fed its way through the joints and ate through them. Malcho glanced over, seeing the rest of the Covenant forces invading his warehouses set fire to them. He heard the deathly cries of his own workers as the Brutes rippled them apart. Even with his own great power, he could not stop the Covenant from completely decimating his home and his company. He noticed that Cujo had backed off on the cruiser, which was anchored. He could not risk destroying the cruiser while it remained so close to the city. Malcho glanced up, seeing a powerful blue-white explosion up above the billowing clouds. It seemed one of the carriers had successfully destroyed one of the ships and the waning night sky was alight with shooting stars. Malcho looked around, hearing the familiar sounds of Shortswords flying overhead and he saw flares of explosions in the clouds. He would not dare try to cause a Mana Storm in those clouds for feared that the storm would also affect the Shortswords.

Down below amid the skyscrapers, fires raged on as blue explosions flashed and flared up in the streets. Malcho knew what the Covenant was looking for. It was far to obvious not to overlook it. They wanted the Tower.

"_And they will get the Tower," _Malcho finally decided. _"The Tower will activate the city's defenses and these Covenant cholos will be removed."_

0

Cujo sat back in his chair and shifted around. He leaned into the screen, seeing the whole of the area around Omak Technologies open up and transform. Then, the surrounding area of the inner city of Lexington followed, the buildings lowering into the ground. People fled from the area. Cujo's eyes narrow just as he saw something blue and glowing rise out of a 10-square-kilometer hole in the ground. It rose higher and higher into the sky with Malcho flying around it. Apparently, this had not gone unnoticed by the Covenant Cruiser, which disengaged its gravity lift platform and began to ascend up into the air. The ship moved forward towards the glowing, blue and cyan glowing, enormous crystalline structure that continued to rise from the massive opening. Cujo's eyes widened when he saw what the crystalline structure was connected to. There were support structures, four of them all around the monolith.

"Excellency," began his helmsman. "Does that look like…"

"I know…" Cujo whispered.

"Excellency," continued the helmsman. "That looks like…"

"I know!" Cujo called. "I know what it looks like! It looks like…_Dreadnaught_."

"More like a landing pad for _Dreadnaught,_" said the helmsman.

"That crystal monolith," Cujo began. "That's the Tower of Atlantis. I never thought it was so huge!"

"_You better move, Cujo," _warned the voice of Malcho into his mind.

_Malcho, _Cujo began, trying hard to direct his thoughts for Malcho to hear. _Malcho you're only doing what they want. They want the Tower._

"Shipmaster!" called the helmsman. "The cruiser is heading for it! It's activated its planetary siege weapon."

"Malcho didn't win just the Tower," said Cujo as he saw other structures rising up alongside the Tower of Atlantis. "He won the whole damned Island of Atlantis! He rebuilt the ruined city of the last Forerunners ever to exist on Earth and put it underneath Lexington. Holy fuck, how did he do that?"

Cujo stood up just as Malcho raised his wings into the sky. The Tower activated and glowed brightly, shooting a cyan beam into the sky. The beam scattered about like rain forming a dome of defused cyan energy protectively around the city of Lexington. Even Cujo's ship was trapped under this dome. The enemy cruiser fired its planetary siege weapon upon the shielded dome.

"We're inside the shield!" called the helmsman.

"I know!" Cujo called as he saw the blinding light of the siege weapon blast its way upon the surface. The shield only fluctuated, but it did not fall. Cujo glanced back over at where Malcho was and saw the Feathered Serpent raise his wings again. At his command, the defenses were activated and five mighty cannons rose up from the outside rim of the dome. They fired upon the attacking cruiser, their energy beams pelted across the shields of the ship. The shields suddenly dropped and despite the ship's best effort to gain entry, it was destroyed by the defenses. The ship exploded into a plume of brilliant blue fire, raining down debris over the dome and onto the ground, kindling the fires that already burned over the unprotected areas.

"Shit…" Cujo breathed. "No wonder it was banned 200 years ago. Just think what they could have had if they hadn't banned Technomancy. It would have been the Covenant on the run, not the humans."

"_As you can see, amigo," _began Malcho. _"I'm quite capable of protecting the Tower."_

_It'll only go so far,_ Cujo called.

"_You have no appreciation for what I have accomplished," _Malcho shorted.

_I know the Covenant,_ said Cujo. _And they're using similar technologies, Malcho. Soon, they'll meet you head on with their own Forerunner weapon…_Dreadnaught.

Silence came as Malcho broke his link.

"He's not listening to me…" Cujo sighed. "Fine. When Truth gets here, he'll realize I'm right."

"Excellency," began the helmsman. "The _Righteous Fury _is hailing us."

"On screen," said Cujo. "What's up, Tulsa?"

"You're not gonna like this, Cujo," said Tulsa. "Guess who decided to show up?"

"I'm hoping it's Telek," Cujo began.

"You wish," said Tulsa. "It's Truth."

"Son of a bitch!" Cujo growled. "Don't tell me, is he heading here?"

"Yes," said Tulsa.

"You won't believe where I am," said Cujo.

"Lexington," said Tulsa.

"Under a shield generated by the very damned thing that Truth is after," said Cujo.

"You better get out of there, now!" Tulsa warned.

_Malcho, lower the shield, _Cujo called.

"_No, amigo," _Malcho replied.

_Truth's coming, Malcho, _said Cujo. _And I don't wanna be here when he does._

"_What kind of protector are you to leave me?" _he asked.

_You said you could handle it, _Cujo began. _So, why do you need me? Lord Hood needs me more._

"_I will not lower the shield," _said Malcho. _Just sit and spin in your little tugboat, puto."_

"Wonderful," Cujo growled allowed. "Tulsa, he won't lower the shield."

"You didn't even talk to him," said Tulsa.

"Malcho's telepathic, remember?" asked Cujo. "He can pick up my thoughts. I just directed them to him."

"Oh," Tulsa blinked his dark green eyes. "Right. But we do need you up here."

"Tell him that," said Cujo. "I'm stuck."

"I'll inform Lord Hood," Tulsa began. Then the screen began to shake. "As soon as these _Brute _assholes stop firing on my ship."

Cujo chuckled: "Take care up there."

"I wish Telek would hurry up," Tulsa began. "We need the help."

"Tell me about it…" Cujo sighed. "Cujo out."

The screen flashed off, returning to the image of the burning city of Lexington. Then, his ship began to tremble. Cujo glanced up into the dawning sky at a familiar, yet terrifying sight. There it was in all its glory, the Forerunner Keyship known as _Dreadnaught_. Cujo took in a breath. This was the first time he had ever saw the ship outside of High Charity. There had been many times where he had been close to it, but never like this. Cujo felt bile crawl up his throat and he could taste what he had for a snack a bit earlier. He did not like what he tasted.

"Holy crap…" he breathed. "There it is. _Dreadnaught!" Malcho, put that Tower away, now!_

Malcho did not reply.

"God-damn feather duster!" Cujo bellowed.

"Cujo!" called Tulsa through the speakers. "You won't believe who Lord Hood told me was on that ship!"

"Who?" asked Cujo as Tulsa's face came back on the image screen.

"Master Chief John-117," he replied.

"Holy fuck," Cujo laughed. "You're kidding."

"No," he replied. "Lord Hood said so himself."

"I hope to God that the Chief is giving Truth a good kick in the ass right now," Cujo grinned.

"Actually, it's the other way around," said Tulsa. "I've just been informed that the Chief has been captured and is about to be interrogated by Truth himself."

"Jesus-tap-dancing Christ!" Cujo bellowed. "This just went from bad to totally fucked up. Well, I can't do anything from down here not with the old feather duster."

"We can only do what we can," said Tulsa. "I'll inform the others."

"Good thinking," said Cujo. He looked at the scene and noticed Malcho glancing up as the enormous Keyship slowly descended. Outside, Malcho was fighting an internal battle. That voice again that spoke to him in his dreams was now even louder than ever. Suddenly, he saw the Tower of Atlantis fluctuate in its glowing blue patterns. That was when his own body began to glow, his brilliant green and rainbow colored feathers faded off to platinum white and the cyan colored, glowing cord bundles flowed down from the base of his skull. His magenta-colored eyes faded to blue and he glanced back up at the Keyship.

_It's time, Malcho…take them to the Ark._

Malcho glanced back and saw tips of his glowing cords fly up and attack themselves to the ship itself. Grabbing hold of the cyan energy that flowed from his neck, Malcho gave them a tug.

_This was our agreement…_

"_Helping the Covenant?" _Malcho asked. _"You are supposed to help the humans!"_

_Unfortunately, the Meddlers have control of _Dreadnaught_. You must grant the Meddler's wish and activate the Portal. Knowing that they will go to the Ark, the Reclaimers will follow. I cannot do much from here, but at the Ark, I will be able to help the Reclaimers defeat these Meddlers. Please, help me help them. Give relinquish the Tower to _Dreadnaught_. And you must go with it. I have tricked the Meddler to thinking he needs you, which he does to activate the Portal._

The shield shattered like glass all around Malcho just as _Dreadnaught_ lowered closer to the Tower of Atlantis.

0

"That is him?" Truth asked, looking down at the screen of the strange creature standing on top of the Tower of Atlantis.

_Correct,_ replied the voice that emanated from the walls of _Dreadnaught._ Ever since the arrival, Truth noticed that the voice—the Oracle came back on line after 30 cycles of silence. That silence was necessary in order to protect the Covenant from the truth. If the Covenant were to find out that the Humans were the descendants of the Forerunners and not the San 'Shyuum, then it would mean chaos. So, Truth ordered the Humans' extermination, which started this war to protect the Covenant and to continue on towards the goal of the Great Journey.

_He is the Tower's guardian,_ said the Oracle. _Only he can activate the Portal._

"He is not Human," said Truth. "I thought only the Humans can operate our Lords' great holy artifacts."

_This is a different circumstance, _replied the Oracle. _A failsafe protocol. Only those who have reclaimed my Makers' gifts can operate the Portal. He is one of them. An agreement between my Makers and the guardians of Earth—the Dragons. If they so wished, they could learn the secrets as well to help the Reclaimers learn how to use that which was destined to them. Malcho has seen my Makers before their 'disappearance'. He has spoken to them. He knows them. He is your 'Key'._

"I see," Truth said as he watched Malcho place his wing on the structure that encased around the Tower of Atlantis. The structure slowly fell away like the petals of a flower and released the Tower from its struts. The Tower began to float up towards an opening to the main cargo area of _Dreadnaught_ taking Malcho with it. Truth turned around in his hover chair as the massive, crystalline monolith rose up into the cargo bay. The Great Feathered Serpent perched at its top, his wings folded. Jiralhanae guards aimed their guns upon the Feathered Serpent, ready to fire upon him.

"Lower your weapons, you fools!" Truth called. "I rather you did not harm our guest."

Malcho bounded off of the Tower and slowly lowered down to the floor, crossing his wings and looking down at Truth with a sneer.

"_So, you're the gringo that has caused this war," _he growled into Truth's head.

"You're telepathic!" Truth gasped. "Interesting. I never thought that the Human home world was filled with creatures such as you."

"_The Humans share Earth with us," _said Malcho._ "But my kind came first."_

"It is a shame that we must destroy the Earth in order to destroy the Human infidels," Truth cupped his bony hands together, folding his fingers. "You Dragons would have made a worthy addition to our Covenant."

"_I will tell you right now, chupaverga," _Malcho began as he lowered his massive head to the tiny alien in the chair before him. _"That no Dragon would ever join your pathetic society. We know the real truth, we always have known even before you started using what you thought were holy structures left by 'gods'. Your 'gods' are dead, gringo! They killed themselves, they committed suicide to stop a growing menace. And you released that menace—twice! And twice we had to deal with him because he came straight for Earth after you idiotas released him. We had to deal with him, Humans and Dragons all because of you! You and your ignorance!"_

Truth's eyes narrowed when he realized who it was that Malcho was talking about. That was another lie he had to keep hidden from the Covenant. All San 'Shyumm had to bear that weight after the mistake.

"_You know," _said Malcho. _"The Flood and the Gold Hydra—they are the same monster. And you let him out. When King Ghidorah returns, I hope he devours your soul so that you would know the mistake you've just made twice."_

"Do what you came here to do," Truth finally said in spite.

"_So, I have no choice in the matter…" _Malcho shrugged. _"The thing must take its course. You may know how to use some of the artifacts left by the Forerunners, but you hardly have any understanding of how they truly work. Allow me to educate you."_

He leaned back and spread his wings. A tremor was felt through the floor and the walls of the ship as the ship came to life. Truth glanced around while cyan lights ignited along the pattern grooves of the walls and the floor as the Tower fluctuated again. The crystal monolith became like liquid, melting down into a pool and seeping down into the grooves of the plates in the floor. Truth came to the horrid realization that Malcho was now in control of the ship. The cyan glowing cords from Malcho's neck attached themselves to the walls of the ship and a flow of information suddenly bombarded the Dragon's mind. _Dreadnaught _rocked itself up into the atmosphere again, leaving behind a desolation of destruction that was once Lexington, Kentucky. The remaining Covenant forces retreated, heading for space.

_Malcho,_ began the voice of the Oracle. _There is a Reclaimer on board. He is being held prisoner._

"_Not for long," _Malcho said, directing his thought to the Oracle only. Malcho closed his eyes and he fed his consciousness through the ship to find where this 'Reclaimer' was. Though the Oracle could have just as well helped the Reclaimer, many of his own functions were limited by Truth himself. With Malcho on board, the Oracle could in fact do what he needed to do in order to help the Reclaimer off. Outside the ship, now that the shield was down, Cujo could make his move. The _Divine Journey _fired up its engines and blasted off towards the Forerunner ship.

"I'm gonna kill that damned Dragon!" Cujo cried. "I can't believe he did it! He gave Truth the Tower! Who's side is that guy on anyways?"

The _Divine Journey _swiftly caught up with _Dreadnaught_ firing its plasma torpedoes and beam cannons at the hull of the ship. Cujo glanced over seeing Wago's carrier the _Regret and Reconciliation _following him up, joining in the fight. Then, Mitsu and Tulsa joined in as well and all four Sangheili ships fired upon _Dreadnaught._

"What happened down there, Cujo?" asked Wago.

"Malcho!" Cujo bellowed. "That idiot gave the Covenant the one thing they needed in order to activate the damned Portal!"

"You're kidding," breathed Tulsa. "Why did he do that?"

"I have no fucking idea!" Cujo bellowed. "But I'm gonna make a boa out of his feathers when I'm done! Malcho, you idiotic son-of-a-bitch, how could you do it?!"

Cujo watched as a shield similar to the one that was raised around Lexington encased _Dreadnaught._ His impacts were doing little to damage the shield or even weaken it.

"Damn it," he growled. "Malcho's using his Technomancy to protect _Dreadnaught._ You're aiding the enemy, you moron! That's treason!"

"_I am not," _began Malcho's voice inside Cujo's mind. _"It is not Truth who I am helping. Besides, once Truth goes through the Portal, you will have no choice but to pursue him. And it will be up there where Truth will meet his end."_

Cujo growled and continued to pelt the shield with torpedoes. He clacked his mandibles in frustration.

"Continue plasma bombardment," he ordered the other ships. "Wago, give that damned ship everything your cruiser can muster."

"Aye," Wago nodded.

"Those shields aren't weakening," said Tulsa. "It's like everything we throw at it has no effect."

"It's because Malcho's using Forerunner technology to its fullest," said Cujo. "Something I don't think Truth even knows how to do."

"I'm confused," said Wago. "How does this Malcho know how to manipulate Forerunner technology like that?"

"Trust me," began Cujo. "That whole planet down there is full of surprises. Malcho's just one of those surprises."

"I'd hate to think about what the others are," said Wago.

"Kiryuu's another," said Tulsa.

"And while he's sitting pretty on Io," said Cujo. "We're getting our asses kicked."

The _Divine Journey _broke off the attack just when another Covenant cruiser came up behind him and fired upon his own shields. Cujo felt the ship shake and he took hold of the arms of his chair. The _Righteous Fury _came up from behind and fired upon the Covenant cruiser with her torpedoes and the _Divine Journey _fired its aft canons just as the shields came down. Another ship came up from the bottom of the Covenant cruiser, a small UNSCN frigate and it began to fire its MAC cannons at the cruiser. With a few shots from both the _Divine Journey _and the small Frigate, the Covenant cruiser exploded. Cujo glanced around just as the frigate flew across the hull of his own ship. He recognized it being the _Forward unto Dawn_, the frigate Lord Hood was using currently.

"Mitsu," began Cujo. "Tulsa, Wago, we can't get through that ship's shields. Not with Malcho powering them."

"Cujo, Mitsu, Tulsa," began the voice of Lord Hood through the speakers. "Wago, just what the hell went on down there in Lexington?"

"The Covenant's got the Tower and have taken Malcho prisoner," said Cujo. "They're gonna try to use him to activate the Ark."

"We have to get him out of there," said Lord Hood.

"Fat chance at that," Cujo sighed. "Truth's using Malcho to power that new shield around _Dreadnaught._ We can't break through."

"Then what can we do?" Lord Hood asked. "We can't have him help Truth."

"Follow the ship to Africa," said Cujo. "And tell the Crow's Nest to get ready. They're in for a fight of their lives."

Another siren sounded from inside Cujo's ship and the helmsmen clicked on one of the holo-pads at their stations. One of the helmsman turned around to Cujo.

"Shipmaster," he began. "Something just exited _Dreadnaught_. It was a life pod."

"Who's on it?" asked Cujo.

"I'm getting a transponder reading," said the helmsman. "It's the Spartan!"

"Chief?" asked Cujo. He got up, walking towards the main view screen as the fiery object entered Earth's atmosphere. He noticed though that the pod itself looked like it was breaking up in the atmosphere. "It's breaking up."

"It appears to be directed near Africa," said the helmsman.

"Keep track of it!" called Cujo. "Lord Hood! Good news. I think the Master Chief escaped _Dreadnaught._"

"That's good news," said Hood.

"The bad news is, his pod is breaking up in the atmosphere," said Cujo. "I'll keep track on him and send over the information once he hits. He's heading for the Congo, it looks like."

"From what you're telling me," began Hood. "He's heading straight for Norrington and Johnson's teams. I'll send word out to Miranda and have Johnson meet the Chief there."

"Right," said Cujo. "I just hope Johnson finds the Chief in one piece."

"So do I," nodded Lord Hood. "So do I."


	6. To Kill a Dragon

**To Kill a Dragon**

He could not tell whether or not it was day or night, though the internal clock inside his one mechanical eye informed him that it was already passed dawn. His toe swayed back and forth on the dusty cot that he laid upon while he hummed softly to himself. Trapped inside the cell, Lofwyr could not return to his natural form just to stretch out again. He hated being inside the cramped body of a human, but again it was more convenient than his dragon form. He sensed that there was something about this room that prevented him from doing anything magical. Though magic was forbidden, some rules were bent, such as having someone cast an anti-magic barrier around the cell to prevent Lofwyr from using some of his own spells to aid in his escape. Despite being trapped inside a human form, he still had his keen dragon senses. His ears twitched as he heard the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer to his cell. Lofwyr rose up from the cot as the small window at the steal door slid open.

"Lofwyr," began a familiar female voice. "Commander Keyes has ordered an evacuation of the Crow's Nest. You're going with some of the Marines to be evacuated out."

The door creaked open and Lofwyr saw that his escort was none other than Commander Shri 'Canthon. The Sangheili stepped aside as Lofwyr slowly walked out of his cell.

"Do you mind telling me what's going on?" Lofwyr asked.

"What do you think?" Shri asked. "The Covenant's coming. We just got the notice from the Prophet of Truth during his transmission. He said, and I quote…" she cleared her voice and attempted to do her best Truth impersonation. "'Your world will burn until its surface is but glass! And not even your Demon will live to creep, blackened, from its hole to mar the reflection of our passage; the culmination of our Journey. For your destruction is the will of the gods! And I? I AM their instrument!' What does that tell you?"

"It seems he likes the sound of his voice," Lofwyr chuckled.

"You don't know how much," Shri growled. "Try listening to him every single day for at least most of your life. At least that's what I had to do when I was in the Covenant. Anyway…Truth is going to glass this whole area. And I may not know much about Dragons, but I hardly think you can survive a full scale plasma bombardment."

"I don't think I want to see if I can," Lofwyr finally sighed.

"Come on," said Shri.

They headed down the corridor and turned off to a large open corridor. Lofwyr watched as several Warthogs passed by. He had to smile when he saw those Warthogs pass him. He felt the ground under him begin to shake and he lowered himself to the pavement. Shri brought out her Carbine and reloaded it.

"What was that?" Lofwyr gasped.

"Jiralhanae," she replied. She glanced over to see Ysoa and some of her other Spec Ops Sangheili approach her.

"Excellency," began Ysoa. "Those bastard Jiralhanae are coming in through the hangar bays. The Chief is trying to handle some of them, but I don't think even he can hold them all back. The Pelicans can't launch with enemy Phantoms coming in and dropping off troops."

"Where the hell is Telek…?" Shri sighed. She leaned over and grabbed Lofwyr by the arm, pulling him up. "I need to get Goldie out of here. Is there a hangar that isn't overrun by Covenant?"

"I don't think so," Ysoa shook his head. He brought out a sword emitter from his utility belt. "Here, Excellency, you shouldn't go into battle without a sword."

"I gave my sword to the Arbiter," said Shri. "Where did you find that?"

"I got it off of a dead Jiralhanae," Ysoa clacked his mandibles in disgust. "He apparently won it as a trophy from a Sangheili he had recently killed back on High Charity."

"Miserable creatures…" Shri growled. "Defacing an honorable weapon by touching it!" She took the sword from Ysoa. "Thank you, Ysoa."

"Excellency," began another black-armored Sangheili. "The end of the corridor up ahead is blocked by Covenant Loyalist troops. Some of the Marine humans are trying to clear a way with their vehicles for the wounded to be evacuated, but there's a Jiralhanae with a Fuel Rod Cannon making it difficult for them."

"Then, we must aid our allies," said Shri. She glanced back at Lofwyr. "Well, Great Dragon, I hope you're as tough as everybody's been telling me. Because if you want out of this dingy hole in one peace, you're gonna have to help us fight the Jiralhanae."

"I've been known to lay waste to a few cities here and there," Lofwyr began as he rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoning his top two buttons. "I am definitely not properly dressed for this."

"I don't think the Covenant cares about what you're wearing," Shri said, tossing him a Plasma Rifle. The four raced down the corridor, following the other Marines who were heading over there as well. Lofwyr saw an overturned Warthog burning against the wall. His eyes turned over to the sound of explosions and several green flashes coming from down the large hallway. Shri and her warriors ducked behind an overturned truck, zooming in with their Carbines and firing. They began to pick off the Unggoy that were up on the far ledge. Marines ducked down behind the crates, firing their weapons at the large Brutes. Lofwyr peered around a crate, firing the Plasma Rifle. He ducked down again just as the Grunt at the plasma turret returned fire upon him. He had no way of protecting his skin, no shields, and no armor. Lofwyr glanced down, seeing a fragment grenade on the floor. Picking it up, he activated it and tossed to the far corner. The grenade exploded, sending the Jackals on the back wall flying.

"Nice throw!" called one of the Marines.

Lofwyr ducked down again when another green lob of energy whizzed by him. He glanced down at the plasma rifle and found the battery almost depleted. Tossing it to the ground, he decided to rely on his own talents to assist in protecting the Marines.

"Hey, pick the gun up and fire!" called Shri.

"I don't need it," Lofwyr called. He ducked down just as a Fuel Rod Cannon blast sent a crate and some of the Marines flying back. He began to dig through his pockets, trying to find something that could aid him in protecting himself and the others from that Brute with the cannon. Lofwyr finally found a small leather pouch and opened it up. Pouring out two reeds that were inside, he crushed them in his hands into a fine powder.

"Lofwyr, this isn't time for a snack," said Shri.

"Please," he snorted. "Just watch."

They ducked down just as Lofwyr got up. He held the powder in one hand and slowly approached the Brutes. The Jiralhanae Captain with the Fuel Rod Cannon fired another shot towards Lofwyr. The Western Dragon growled and merely batted the green projectile out of his way with the palm of his hand. The rod impacted into the wall, blowing a large hole in its side. Shri stared with wide eyes in disbelief to what she just saw. No one could bat away a Fuel Rod like that.

"Holy shit…" she breathed. "Impossible."

"You wanted to know if he was tough…" said Ysoa.

"It's a monster!" cried one of the Grunts. He got up from his post and ran with his arms flailing. Some of the other grunts followed snorting and whimpering as they ran.

"Get back here, maggots!" one of the Brutes bellowed. "Cowards! It's just a pitiful human."

Lofwyr smirked slightly at their ignorance as he threw the powder in the air. The Jiralhanae glanced around and sniffed the air, noticing that it now had a rather pleasant smell. Lofwyr crossed his arms hearing the sound of the Brutes mocking him with their laughter. Shri got up from the back of the truck, clacking her mandibles in frustration.

"That's it?" she asked. "Those guys want to kill us and all you did was make them smell better."

Lofwyr crossed his arms again and shook his head. Down beneath the feet of the Covenant Loyalists, an inky, bottomless hole began to form. As the hole spread out, the Jiralhanae fell into it one by one followed by whatever Unggoy and Kig-Yar were left. Then, the hole shrank and vanished. Lofwyr glanced back at Shri and wiggled his eyebrows at her giving her a 'what-do-you-think-now' look. Shri rolled her amber eyes at him. The Marines got up, looking slightly bewildered, but not as phased as the Sangheili. He paused for a moment when the corridor shook again. Dust fell from the ceiling.

"More Jiralhanae," whispered Ysoa.

"Come on Goldie," said Shri, grabbing hold of Lofwyr's shirt.

"Please don't call me 'Goldie," he protested.

"Do you want me to call you wizwyrm instead?" she asked.

"No," he replied.

"Commander," called one of the Marines. "There's a hangar down this corridor. Follow us."

They all filed down through the poorly lit corridor. As the walls began to shake once more, the lights that lit their path flickered on and off. Lofwyr heard the sound of a Marine talking into a comlink and his ears began to filter out the sound in order to listen in on the conversation.

"I understand," he said. "The Brutes have the bomb. The Chief is heading back to the Ops Center? Right. I've got some of the Elites with me and the Dragon as well. We're heading to the hangar now." He paused for a moment and glanced back at Lofwyr. "Don't worry, ma'am. I'll make sure the wizwyrm is sent to the detention camp afterwards. He'll be sent back to Germany even if I have to drag him by his tail myself."

"Stacker…" Lofwyr's eyes narrowed.

"Thought you could get rid of me that easily?" Stacker chuckled. Lofwyr rushed him, taking hold of his arm.

"I will not go back to Germany," Lofwyr growled, bringing the Marine closer to him. "Not yet. This is the last time I sit around and just watch fate fly over me."

"You are—how do you say in German…a _Scheissekopf_," Stacker growled. "The Covenant's about to blow this whole planet to Kingdom Come and all you're worried about is whether or not you have a front row seat. Well, just like Malcho, even you will be Covenant bate. Being a Dragon didn't help him much against that pompous jackass Truth."

"Malcho?" Lofwyr gasped. "What happened to him?"

"I'm afraid we didn't want to tell you," said Shri. "Malcho was captured by Truth."

"Shipmaster Cujo said that since Truth has Malcho, he'll have a way of activating the Ark," said Ysoa. "We didn't want to tell you because we'd know that would give you another excuse to stay."

"That Dummkopf…" Lofwyr growled, his fingers clinching tighter around Stacker's upper arm. Stacker knelt down, wiggling around in Lofwyr's grip. He grabbed hold of the Dragon's fingers, trying to pry them loose, but Lofwyr's strength was far greater. Finally, Lofwyr let loose another growl and idly tossed the sergeant against the wall.

"Stacker…" Shri gasped as she knelt down to help him up. She took hold of the very arm that Lofwyr had held so tightly and Stacker let loose a yelp of pain. She lifted her head and her mandibles snapped at Lofwyr. "What the hell did you do? Break his arm?"

"Be more worried about what I'll do to that brainless peacock," Lofwyr growled as he dashed off down the corridor.

"Son-of-a-bitch…" growled Shri. "Stay with Stacker, Ysoa. I'll go after the Dragon."

She ran down the corridor following the sounds of Lofwyr's footsteps. Finally when she reached the end, she found herself inside a hangar that was not filled with enemy Brutes, but in fact filled with one enormous, Great Western Dragon bent on flying out its opening. Lofwyr had regained his true form. Shri soon realized how much bigger the problem of getting him to listen to her just became.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me…" she whispered, taking hold of her sword and igniting it. "Not so fast, you bat-winged alligator."

"_Is that the best you can come up with?" _Lofwyr asked.

"Shut up," Shri clacked her mandibles. "And don't think because you're bigger means you can take me on. I've whipped Drinols with nastier attitudes than you."

"_All bark and no bite," _he chuckled, giving a shake to his scales. _"But can a Drinol do this?"_

Lofwyr snorted, and arched his neck and belched forth a rolling torrent of fire towards Shri. She ducked down, praying to whoever was listening that her shields were strong enough to take on his heated breath. Her shields fluctuated and she saw on her HUD that they were weakening fast. Shri dashed out of the way of the flames and pressed her active camouflage, disappearing right before Lofwyr's barbed tail slammed down near her. The force sent a few crates flying up against the cave wall. She leapt up just as his massive jaws snapped dangerously close. Not even her cloaking technology was keeping her safe from his attacks. He knew exactly where she was. Those jaws came close again and Shri jumped up, landing upon his snout and slamming his jaws shut with the force of her hooves. Lofwyr's wedge-like head came crashing into the crates that lined along the far wall. She bounded up some boxes and sliced her sword through a large steel pipe above the Dragon. It came crashing down on top of him, knocking him to the grate below. Shri returned from invisibility and leapt behind his horns, grabbing hold of them tightly. She straddled the back of his neck, holding tightly with her knees despite Lofwyr's attempt to buck her off. She heard Lofwyr grunt and grow, snorting smoke out of his nostrils.

"Yeah, yeah, huff and puff all you want, Scaly," she said. "You are the craziest guy I have ever met. I mean even Telek would have enough sense to get out while he still could. And he's a drunk! Who do you think you are? Immortal? I don't think you're even on our side. I don't think you're on anyone's side but your own. Just like Truth."

Shri graced the plasma blade of her sword against the golden, scaly neck of the Dragon and Lofwyr let out a shocked grunt.

"Just what I thought," she said, pulling his horns down towards her chest and causing his head to rise. "You're just like the rest of us. Only you're too damned arrogant and pigheaded to admit it."

"_Like it or not, I'm not leaving," _he informed her coldly.

"Fine," Shri began. "You want to battle Covenant, then, you will battle Covenant. You want front-row seats to practically the fight that will either save or destroy your home world, then who am I to stand in your way? I'll see to it that Miranda makes an exception for you."

She gave his horns a jerk and Lofwyr let out another growl.

"Save your anger for the Jiralhanae," Shri clacked her mandibles. She glanced over to find Ysoa and the other Elites followed by Stacker running into the hangar. Stacker held onto his wounded arm with a rocket launcher strapped to his back. He stopped his eyes growing wide when he found Shri straddling Lofwyr's neck and Lofwyr pinned under a pipe. There were scorched marks all over the grate and the walls from the Dragon's flames.

"What the hell happened here?" he gasped.

"We had a little chat," Shri replied, sliding down Lofwyr's snout. "You know, I really don't see why you Humans are afraid of _him_."

Lofwyr growled, rising up and pushing the pipe off his back.

"My next question is where the hell is the Pelican?" Stacker asked. "We need to get the hell outta here now!"

"Why?" Shri asked.

"The Chief managed to get back to the Ops Center," he replied.

"That's good," said Shri.

"No, that's bad," began Stacker. "The Commander ordered the bomb to be activated. We're about to become barbequed if we don't get out of this cave."

"Miranda," Shri began, trying to contact the Commander through her comlink. "This is Shri. We need a Pelican. I've got one wounded Marine and…" she glanced back at Lofwyr and her own warriors. "…well others that need an EVAC."

"I'm sorry, Shri," began Miranda. "All my birds are in the air. You're best way out is through the lift to the garage below. Or, do you still have Lofwyr with you?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I do."

"Well, he's just as good as any Pelican," said Miranda. "If you can convince him, he could fly you out of there. Though I've never heard of any Dragon taking on passengers."

"Don't worry," Shri grinned. "I think I can convince him."

"Good," said Miranda. "Good luck."

"Okay," Shri began. "No Pelicans are coming and the only option, and the best option is to have Goldie here give us a lift."

"Are you serious?" asked Stacker.

Shri glanced back at the Great Dragon who shook his head in protest.

"Sorry," she began, igniting her sword again. "'No' isn't an option."

"_Alright, alright, fine!"_ Lofwyr yelped at the clash of Shri's sword. He lowered his neck to them.

"You got him trained, Shri," Stacker chuckled as Ysoa helped him up.

"Like I said," she began, grabbing a hold of the Dragon's mane and mounting behind his horns. "I have no idea why you Humans make such a big deal about this guy."

Lofwyr grumbled under his breath as he leapt through the skylight above. He dug his claws into the rock and hefted himself out of the hole in the hill, folding his wings tightly as he emerged out. He sat perched on the hill, unfurling his wings and testing the direction of the wind.

"What the hell are you waiting for?" Stacker barked. "Permission from the flight tower? Take-off, wizwyrm!"

"_I hate being called that!"_ he bellowed.

"Shut up, and take-off already," Shri growled. "Before I peal your head from its trunk."

"_Yes, ma'am."_

"Damn, Commander," Stacker asked. "What did you do?"

"Like I said, all we had was a talk," she replied as Lofwyr bounded off the cliff. "And I picked at his ego a bit. You know, I think he has an inferiority complex."

"_I'm right here…"_

"Keep those eyes on the clouds, Goldie," Shri barked.

Lofwyr rolled his red eyes at that statement.

"Woohoo!" Ysoa yelped with joy the moment the Dragon took his first downbeat, feeling the rush of sudden G-force taking hold. "Forget Phantoms, I gotta fly like this more often."

A loud explosion thundered through the Serengeti as clouds of debris shot straight through the hole where the hangar was. Lofwyr turned his head slightly and his eyes caught the dark clouds rising up. Ysoa glanced back and shook his head.

"I just hope the Chief made it out," he whispered.

"If he can escape from the clutches of Truth by the plating of his armor," began Shri. "Then he can make it out of anything."

"Phantom!" Stacker cried, seeing a Phantom streak towards them. "Phantom!"

"_Is it one of yours?" _Lofwyr asked.

"It's not green!" called Shri. "Take it out!"

Lofwyr banked right just as the Phantom began to fire its Shade Turrets. Stacker loaded his rocket launcher and lifted it up, grunting as he tried to hold it with both his injured arm and his good one.

"Remind me to kick you in the head for breaking my arm, wizwyrm," he growled, firing the rocket and taking out one of the Shade Turrets. Shri and her warriors fired their Carbines and Beam Rifles at the Unggoy in the plasma turret seat. The turret exploded and the Grunt fell out. Lofwyr let loose a bellow as a flash of green seared across the membrane of his left wing. Shri glanced up seeing a flight of Banshees flying towards them. The Dragon took a dive, dipping under the Phantom. Stacker took another shot at the other turret as Lofwyr dove. Suddenly, the Phantom itself exploded in a flash of brilliant blue fire.

"What the hell?" Stacker breathed.

"Nice work," said Shri.

"That wasn't me!" he shouted.

"That was a tank," called Ysoa, pointing down to the ground. Shri glanced over the Dragon's mane to find a Scorpion Tank rolling over the hills. She felt her shields weaken as another pelt of plasma grazed across her shoulders. Glancing up, she saw the Banshees dive down. Lofwyr angled his wings and gained altitude, coming up behind one of the Banshees. With one fiery snort, he sent the Banshee exploding in a brilliant blaze.

"Now I know where the Human expression 'dragon breath' comes from," Ysoa breathed.

"Yep," Shri grinned. She ducked down again as another pelt of plasma grazed across her shields. The only thing she could do was thank the upgrades she received with her new armor that her shields were strong enough to hold out. "We're getting' fried up here. He's only got one forward facing weapon and all we got are rockets, Carbines, Snipers, and one plasma sword. Stacker, how's the rockets?"

"Running low," he informed her.

"If Telek was here right now," began Ysoa, gripping tightly to the mane just as the Dragon made a sudden mid-air swerve to avoid another Fuel Rod. "He'd hijack some of those Banshees."

"_Hijack one of those aircrafts?" _Ysoa's thoughts were broken by Lofwyr's mental voice. _"From me? And you call me insane…"_

"You're stubborn," said Shri. "Telek's nuts. All you have to do is get me close enough. That is if you're not too much of a scared hatchling to do it."

"_Watch who you're calling hatchling,"_ Lofwyr growled. _"I've fought in battles long before you were a twinkle in your mother's eye."_

"Back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth," Shri snorted. "Just get me close enough."

"_Don't expect me to peal you off of the ground once you splatter after your long fall,"_ he retorted back.

"You won't need to," Shri said. "And I think I know why there were dragonslayers back in the Dark Ages. I'm this close to stabbing you with a lance myself."

She rose up from her seat, steadying herself with Lofwyr's crooked horns. The Dragon chased down a Banshee and Shri ran down his snout and dove off towards it. She made the catch, taking hold of the Banshee's 'wing' and swung herself up. She opened up the cockpit of the Banshee and kicked the pilot out, sliding herself in. Shri sent the Banshee into a barrel roll in front of Lofwyr's wide, ruby eyes. More and more, these Sangheili creatures were surprising him. They were truly tough warriors. Lofwyr had to admit, if the Sangheili were dragonslayers back during the Fourth Age, his kind would probably be extinct by now.

"I learn from the best," said Shri. "Telek of course."

"_That's it, I'm insisting on meeting him," _Lofwyr commented.

Shri swung the Banshee around, and headed for another Banshee. Lofwyr banked off, speedily moving out of the way as Shri took the shot and winged the Brute Banshee. It went spiraling off, crashing to the ground. Ysoa took his chance and leapt off the Dragon's neck, hijacking another Banshee in a similar fashion as Shri did before. Then, the other warrior under Shri's command took off, hijacking the next one.

"We'll fly off ahead," said Shri. "Looks like there's going to be a heavy fight in the town of Voi."

"Now you're stuck with me, wizwyrm," Stacker chuckled. He glanced down, seeing exactly where some of those Banshees were coming from. Lofwyr flew directly over the Tsavo Highway, towards the area he was not allowed to come in a few days earlier. Stacker noticed several Marines pinned down, their various transport vehicles battered and beaten from the previous attack. "Excuse me, for a moment." He got on the comlink. "My convoy has been hit, I repeat, my convoy has been hit. I've got wounded. We're about 30 kilometers east of Voi. Someone, anyone, please respond."

"_I can't fit all of them on my back," _Lofwyr protested. _"Especially while trying to dodge enemy fire from both land and air."_

"Then, this is your chance to get rid of me," said Stacker. "Drop me down by the convoy."

As he neared the convoy, they were soon pelted by several shots of a Shade Turret up on a hill. Lofwyr snorted, shooting a fiery ball towards the turret and watched it fly off in an explosion. The great wind from his wings knocked down the support tower on the other side of the road. Taking in another breath, he let loose a stream of fire from his jaws, clearing the landing site from the attacking Brutes below and relieving the weight from the wounded Marines. Stacker slid down the Dragon's flank and made a dash to one of the dumbfounded Marines pinned behind a truck.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Banshees," replied the Marine. "Whole mess of them. Then two Phantoms came by and dropped off more troops." The Marine glanced over at Lofwyr. "Is—is that who I think that is…?"

"Never mind him," Stacker snorted.

Lofwyr snorted out a puff of black smoke from his nostrils and turned away.

"Are you wounded, Sergeant?" asked the Marine, noticing Stacker holding his arm.

"Don't worry about me," said Stacker, glancing a spiteful eye back at the Western Dragon. "Some _Brute_ broke my arm. Any word about the Chief?"

"Not yet, sir," he replied.

Lofwyr blocked off the two Marine's conversation as his eyes grazed over the crater. There it was again, the _Device._ Two Covenant Cruisers circled the crater. His one mechanical eye zoomed in closer to find Truth's ship _Dreadnaught _parked right at the center of the crater itself. Above the crater, there seemed to be a storm forming. Lofwyr's eyes narrowed, sensing the presence of Malcho coming from inside that ship. His black, sickle claws raked across the pavement and he let loose an infuriated growl. He could not believe that Malcho would betray his own people like this. His eyes could detect the faint shadowy movements of Covenant assault carriers and cruisers in the smoky distance of what he now realized was the charred remains of New Mombasa. There was his destiny, New Mombasa, now nothing more than ruins left by Regret's carrier. Glancing over the plains, Lofwyr spied another line of broken rings from the Space Elevator cutting their way through the Serengeti like a broken arrow directing him to Mombasa. Stacker got up and walked over to the Dragon. The medic that was with the convoy had dressed his broken arm and hung it in a sling. Already, Stacker was fed the necessary medication in order to speed up the process of healing the arm. He walked out to the forefoot of the Dragon, looking out through the black clouds obscuring New Mombasa.

"Yep," Stacker nodded. "There it is. New Mombasa, or what's left of it. That's what you came here for, isn't it?"

"_It is what I came here for," _Lofwyr sighed.

"Do you like what you see?" he asked.

"_No," _the Dragon replied. _"I don't."_

"The Covenant still own that city," said Stacker. "You can put that in your report and shove it. It took the burning of one city on Earth to get an arrogant suit like you to care. Makes me wonder what the hell we're fightin' for. It certainly isn't so you can continue on with your 'intricate' plots."

"_What?"_ Lofwyr glanced back, seeing the Human walk away. _"What is that supposed to mean?"_

"You have no idea who you're up against," said Stacker. "None of you wizwyrms do. So quit thinkin' that you could just waltz in here and be all high and mighty and think that because you're here everything is gonna be alright. Because when this war is over, even you, Lofwyr, will realize your own god-damned mortality. Because we're all gonna come to the end of this war by the skins of our teeth. If we all survive this, then we're the lucky ones. I think the only Dragon who would have really understood all of this would have been President Dunkelzahn. At least he knew his limits. And even today, he's still the only Dragon any of us actually show real respect to. He earned it."

_You don't know how much he earned it…_Lofwyr thought in defeat. _"What do you want me to say, then?"_

"Get off your high horse and finally admit that this isn't just about us 'lowly two-legs'," Stacker began. "This is about you arrogant lizards too. This whole war, from day one, meant the survival of all of us. And you're just as scared as we are of what will happen at the end of this war. Think what they could do to Essen after what they did to New Mombasa, after what they did to Reach and Harvest and all the other planets."

Lofwyr turned his head slightly away and sighed.

"I knew you weren't 'Man' enough to say it," Stacker snorted. "Get going, wizwyrm. You'll find your answers in the town of Voi. But I wouldn't try going near that structure. Not with the Covenant swarming all over it."

Lofwyr sighed again and leapt up off the cliff, banking off and following the line of broken rings towards New Mombasa. The corn of his eye caught the movement of a Warthog and the flash of familiar green armor. A slight smile curled up around the corner of his scaly lips when he saw who that was in the Warthog. He was not sure if the Master Chief did in fact see him fly off, nor did he care. The Marines were now in good hands. He banked his wings just as a Pelican streaked passed him and began to follow the line of broken rings. Despite the warnings of Stacker, Lofwyr had to see for himself the damage done to New Mombasa. The reason why he came here was New Mombasa. He got himself arrested so that he could have an easy access into New Mombasa. He followed the rules while inside his cell just so he could have the opportunity to get to New Mombasa. Everything he did revolved around New Mombasa. Now, here was his opportunity. New Mombasa was just a short flight away.

Something thundered and rumbled through the sky, something enormous. Lofwyr craned his head up and paused in mid flight, beating his wings quickly to keep himself aloft. A massive, purple-hued Covenant cruiser breezed by above him and the wind rushed up around him, knocking him around. The single cruiser careened off towards the alien structure inside the crater, unloading troops and supplies. Lofwyr's on thoughts about that cruiser were suddenly cut short when something huge and green seared across his scales and knocked him from the sky. He plummeted down, crashing into the grassy plain below near one of the metallic rings. The Dragon glanced up hearing the sound of robotic joints coming towards his way. Rising up, he gave his golden scales a shake and his ruby eyes met with the frontal cannon of a Scarab. The large mecha stood nearly tall as his head.

"_Oh…damn…"_ he breathed, backing up. _"Oh…damn…nice Scarab—good Scarab."_

"Kill that creature!" he heard a Brute on the side of the Scarab cry.

The Scarab powered up its main cannon.

"_Oh, no, you don't want to do that!"_

As the beam made its shot, Lofwyr leapt out of the way. The beam blasted a massive crater through the rock where the Dragon once was. Lofwyr ducked down as the rocks flew up around him, covering himself with his wings. He unfolded himself just as the Scarab moved towards him gain and he swung his barbed tail at one of its legs. The Scarab powered up its thrusters and leapt out of the way of the tail, firing its secondary turret. Lofwyr bounded over the Scarab. He felt something impact his chest and knock him from the air again, sending him rolling to the ground. Lofwyr shook his head, his ears ringing from the sound of whatever that was that knocked him to the ground. He laid flat on his back and he arched his neck to find the Scarab bounding over once more. The machine landed on top of him, one of its legs impaling his shoulder. Lofwyr let loose a painful bellow, glancing up to see a Brute Chieftain bearing a Gravity Hammer. The alien was laughing. He arched his neck and spouted his fire, blowing off the secondary turret at the back of the Scarab. Then, he heard the sound of a Pelican fly over his head. The back of the Pelican opened up and someone leapt out from it. He heard a war cry and the sound of a sword igniting. He recognized the Elite in the archaic armor. It was the Arbiter. Then, the Scarab began to beep and shake as sparks flew from its legs and hull. The body of the Scarab lowered itself down onto Lofwyr's chest as if it was wounded somehow. He glanced over to find the Arbiter leaping down off the Scarab.

"Run, Dragon!" Otto cried. "It's about to blow!"

Despite the pain from his wound, Lofwyr called up the last of his strength and hefted the machine off of him, scrambling away as fast as he could before it blew up in a brilliant explosion of blue-white fire. Lofwyr reared back on his haunches, gripping his wounded shoulder tightly with his claw. Otto glanced back at the Dragon, noticing the wound.

"You're injured," he said.

"_I'll be fine," _Lofwyr grunted. He lowered his claw and the Arbiter saw the wound. He could not help but to notice the exposed flesh under the scaly armor was entwined with circuitry.

"You're just like the Spartan," he breathed, realizing what was really under Lofwyr's scales.

"_You might say that," _the Western Dragon nodded. _"It's a bit of a long story how I got this arm."_

"You shouldn't be here," Otto began. "I'll have the Pelican come down. You better get in your—human form so they can remove you from the battlefield."

"_No!" _Lofwyr protested. _"I can't transform now. The downside of the human form is that any wound I sustain in my dragon form is tripled when I shift. If I change now, I could die from this wound and the burns I gained from that Scarab."_

"I see," Otto said. "There is a Human camp not far from here. They have medical supplies. They can patch you up—that is if they know your anatomy."

"_Believe me, they do," _said Lofwyr. _"They do. I can see why Telek is a great warrior. It seems he had a good teacher."_

Otto dipped his head at that comment and glanced up as the Pelican landed.

"Hey, Arbiter!" called Sergeant Johnson. "Let's go. Everyone's moving to Voi." He turned to the Dragon and shifted his cigar in his mouth. "And you, you overgrown garden lizard, get your scaly hide outta here. Lord Hood's planning on a full assault on that artifact and this whole place is liable to go up in smoke any minute now."

"_Malcho is inside that ship," _said Lofwyr.

"Well, he shouldn't have gotten his feathered ass captured," snorted Johnson. "Now get goin', Lofwyr. You're doing none of us any good by stickin' around. This ain't your fight. You're just a civilian. So, act like one and leave. Come on, Arbiter."

"Watch your back, Dragon," said Otto as he climbed on board the Pelican. "The vile, murderous Jiralhanae are everywhere."

The Pelican lifted off, leaving Lofwyr alone with his own wounds. He leaned over and grunted as he pulled against the loose scales and skin covering the wound, exposing the biosyntech underneath. His left arm jerked uncontrollably and he heard the sound of the joints move as they twitched. Lofwyr pulled from his mane a pair of tweezers and began to rig the arm, reattaching some of the severed wires. His foreleg stopped twitching and the pain was soon replaced with pressure. He took something out that was hidden in his mane and crushed it into a powder. Spitting into the powder, he mixed it into a paste and applied it upon the wound. It soon stopped bleeding and stopped hurting as the paste hardened and disappeared. The wound was there, but the paste provided a secondary, protective skin over it. Even with the wound though, Lofwyr could not fly. He would not dare try to fly now with the sky being owned by the Covenant. It was best for him to continue his trek on foot. He took one last look at the Pelican which faded away into the distance towards Voi and he shook his head. He glanced up noticing that the sun was already beginning to set over the horizon.

"_This is my fight too," _he stated. _"That's what he wanted me to say."_

Taking out another object hidden inside his mane, Lofwyr leaned up, tilting his head to the sky. He held a spray in his claw and he brought it to his right mechanical eye. Spraying the substance into the eye, he shut it tightly. Rows of binary code flashed across the HUD in the eye as a program was injected into it. The HUD cleared, and Lofwyr opened up the eye. At the center of his field of view, there was a reticule and at the right there was a radar which matched with his already heightened senses. Numbers detailing various distances came up on the HUD. Though he had a good since of aim when it came to his own natural weapons, the reticule made that aiming more exact. The fight was in Voi, not New Mombasa. The Space Elevator could wait. He began his limp and run over the hill towards the town of Voi. There, Lofwyr found his way barred by more Covenant forces. He stood upon the hill next to a ring from the Space Elevator and he looked down upon the Brutes. He heard their roars at him and the sniveling whines from the Grunts that they commanded. Taking hold of the metallic ring, Lofwyr wrenched it from the ground.

"_This is for New Mombasa you destroyed, you Covie bastards…"_ he growled as he pushed the ring over the hill. It rolled down the hill, crashing into a support tower, knocking it down off of its gravity lift. The ring tipped over and fell upon a Wraith tank, destroying it. The small battle group open fired after that just as the Dragon leapt down from the hill in full charge. 640-tons of Western Dragon charged down the hill, spouting fireballs to take out the Shade Turrets.

"_That was for Reach…"_

A lob of plasma hurtled over a natural bridge from another Wraith tank on the other side. Lofwyr moved aside, allowing the lob of plasma to collide with a group of Brutes behind him. His one mechanical eye zeroed in on the Wraith and a reticule at the central view of the HUD display inside his eye flashed red singling a lock. With a snort, he sent another fireball rolling towards the Wraith. It exploded upon the impact and Lofwyr blinked, clearing the HUD screen. Still, there were red dots moving towards him that he saw at the corner of the HUD. The red iris of the mechanical eye rotated around as he turned his head. More Covenant forces came over the hill with their vehicles and Wraith tanks. This was a war he has never fought before. It was different when all he was defending himself against were sticks tipped with sharp, metal spikes and forces riding on horseback. Lofwyr let loose his fire at the forces coming down off of the hill and bolted off, deciding not to stick around any further. He had to make sure he would make it in order to de-feather Malcho once this was over. Malcho had to pay for his idiocy one way or another.


	7. Knight to Bishop's Square

_Author's Notes: __I realize that it has been released that the Arbiter's real name is Thel 'Vadam. Well, for the sake that hell, I've written fucking 7 stories that all called the Arbiter Otto 'Gamam and I will NOT go back and change them and then re-post them with the correct name for the Arbiter. __ My name for the Arbiter stays. And if anyone doesn't read this note and then goes on and complains about the incorrect name, I will be PISSED! Thank you. Now, on with the story..._

_0  
_

**Knight to Bishop's Square**

Two more months and it will be the end of his second and final term. He promised himself and his people that he would end the war by that time. The moment the new President-Elect would be sworn in, the war would be over. This was the final battle, the endgame between the Covenant and the United Nations Space Command. The Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, the civilian leader that presided over High Command and handled everything that had to do with the war effort was watching from the Jovian moon Io as the Second Battle of Earth began. Beside him was the Secretary-General of the UN Council. President Kiryuu Knight drummed his metallic fingers on the desk, watching Secretary-General Tanya Alekseyeva make her move on the chessboard.

"_Jeto vashe dvizhenie,"_ Tanya began.

"_Vy,"_ Kiryuu sighed, moving his Rook over.

Tanya moved her piece next, taking his Rook: _"Vy osvobozhdaete."_

"_Ja ne zabochu,"_ he rumbled, not really caring about the outcome of the game.

"Yes, I know," she sighed. "Moving us here while who knows what's happening back on Earth."

"I'm being held here against my will!" Kiryuu bellowed, his booming voice echoing off the rock walls. "Stuck inside a cave…I've spent 130 million years trapped in a cave once. It wasn't very enjoyable."

"_Vashe dvizhenie,"_ she pointed at the chessboard. _"Sygrajte igru!"_

"_Ja proburen jetoj igry,"_ Kiryuu growled, rising up in a huff.

"You have to finish the game, Kiryuu," she said. "It will take your mind off of things."

"I want to be there," Kiryuu growled, feeling something call him back down to Earth. "Something is about to happen and I need to be there to see it."

"What?" Tanya asked. "It's the Covenant! You'll get yourself blown up and two months before your term is over. We don't need that. We both need to stay here to do our jobs."

"It's hard to do _my _job from here, Madam Secretary-General," he growled back.

"Well, as they say in my country, 'deal with it'," Tanya said. "Now don't be so stubborn and come back here and play chess. That's an order, Mr. President. You only have control over the military, I have control over everything else, now get back here."

Kiryuu sighed again and sat back down.

"I swear, they were right when they told me you were stubborn as an ox," Tanya sighed. "On my first day of office too."

"Who said that?" Kiryuu asked.

"Just about everyone I met," Tanya sighed. "They said: 'You had better watch out for President Knight, no matter how hard you try, he won't budge. He's not flexible. He's as stubborn as an ox and once he sets his mind to something, he won't move away from it.' You're not easy to work with."

"_Ja ogorchenn,"_ Kiryuu said in defeat.

"It's alright," Tanya grinned as she watched him make his move. "You can't help it. You're like my grandfather. It's because both of you are old, grouchy men."

Kiryuu's head perked up and his eyes crossed at her statement.

"You can't deny it, Kiryuu," she chuckled. "You're an old man. It's what happens when you become a senior citizen. You become set in your ways. Even if you don't look not much older than you did when you first came on line, you're still old."

Kiryuu stared down at the table and watched her knock over his King.

"Checkmate," she grinned. "I must say, this is the first time I've ever won a game of chess against a computer." She saw the disgusted look on Kiryuu's face. "No offense."

"None taken, Tanya," he sighed again. "I wasn't paying attention."

Kiryuu picked up on the movement of boats clacking against the stone and he turned his head to the sound. A Marine lieutenant paused and stood at attention, saluting him. Kiryuu nodded to the Marine who then lowered his arm and stood at ease.

"Mr. President, sir," the Marine said.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Kiryuu asked.

"Sir, we've just received word that the Covenant attacked Lexington, Kentucky. A massive ship like something we've never seen before broke through the line of defense and headed towards Lexington."

"What sort of ship was this?" asked Tanya.

"It didn't look Covenant, but the Covenant seemed to be protecting it," said the Marine.

"Must have been the Forerunner ship _Dreadnaught_," began Kiryuu. "The one Shipmaster Cujo told us about which used to power High Charity. Why did it attack Lexington?"

"We don't know, sir," he said. "But Lord Hood was informed that the ship stole something from Lexington."

"What was that?"

"The Tower of Atlantis," he said. The Marine backed just as an infuriated rumble bubbled out from Kiryuu Knight.

"They took _WHAT?!_" Kiryuu said in an angered bellow, knocking the chess pieces from the board. He curled his claws into tight fists, a twisted, maddened scowl etched across his brow. His golden eyes lit up with heated fury and he slammed his tail into the stone floor, causing it to crack upon impact.

"They—they also kidnapped the CEO of Omak Technologies and Magical Research," the Marine said in a shaky, frightened voice, backing further away from the fuming mechanical military leader. "Soñador Malcho—the Great Feathered Serpent. Though, Cujo stated that Malcho let the Covenant have the Tower."

"Malcho!" Kiryuu said, bellowing his signature, monstrous roar. "I'm going to pluck every feather from his body! How dare he do this?"

"Kiryuu…" Tanya said as Kiryuu moved away from the table. "Where are you going?"

"Back to Earth," he replied in a growl.

"You can't!"

"Just watch me," Kiryuu said as he made his way towards a hangar. "I want a Longsword and I want one now!"

"Yes, sir," the Marine said with a salute.

"You can't just go back there," Tanya said. "You'll be killed! We can't have one of our most important leaders killed in battle!"

"Long ago," Kiryuu began. "George Washington was named Commander in Chief of the rebelling colony armies and he rode to fight the British along side his soldiers. He commanded them from the battlefield. He didn't hide in a cave."

"You're not Washington," said Tanya.

"No, he was human. I am Kiryuu Mechagodzilla Knight, Commander in Chief of the United Nations Space Command. And I've got a lot more firepower than a musket and a horse. But I won't stand idly by and just wait for the end. You can, Madam Secretary-General, but I won't."

"I suppose standing in the way of a 60-meter tall, living machine would not be wise right now," Tanya said in defeat.

"Tanya, I only have two months left of office," he said. "Let me end my last term the way I want it to end. I want to let Earth know that I'm willing to stand by her just as anyone who joins the UNSC. This is my fight too."

"Yes, sir," said Tanya. "Good luck, President Knight."

"Lieutenant!" Kiryuu called. "My ride?"

"It's waiting for you," said the Marine. "Follow me."

Tanya sat down on the chair as Kiryuu Knight followed the Marine out. She glanced down at the chessboard and the pieces scattered across the floor. Then, she knelt down and picked up the King that Kiryuu was playing with. Tanya curled her fingers around the silvery piece and looked up when she heard the sound of the Longsword leave the hangar bay. A hopeful smile spread across her face as she cast her eyes to the ceiling of the underground base.

0

"_Air Force One_," began the tower. "You are cleared for lift off."

"Roger that," replied the pilot. He turned back to Kiryuu who sat behind the co-pilot. "Sir, be sure your restraints are tight."

"They are," Kiryuu said.

"We'll make a quick jump through slipspace," said the co-pilot. "That way we'll make it to Lexington within the hour."

"No," Kiryuu said. "Not Lexington. Don't go there. The Covenant has what it needed from there. They won't return. Head for Africa."

"Africa, sir?"

Kiryuu dipped his head forward and pulled out a bundle of cyan glowing cords from the base of his neck. The cords grew out and spread across the floor. Already, the information from the Array began to flow swiftly into his own CPU as lines of code raced up through the cords.

"Kenya, Africa," said Kiryuu in a breathy tone, his eyes closed. He saw images; many images of a structure there, opening up like a flower near what was now known as Voi. A ship docked at the center of the structure and fired a beam into the sky and opened up a black hole. Then, it shot up into the hole, disappearing through it.

_Reclaimer!_

He jerked slightly, shocked by the voice that echoed through his processors.

_Come to me, Reclaimer! Follow me! Or I will leave without you…_

Kiryuu opened up his eyes and turned back to the pilot and co-pilot. His eyes glowed blue as well, matching the color of the cords, which flowed over the seat. They knew what those cords were and why his eyes were glowing. He was using the forbidden magic of Technomancy. Kiryuu caught their frightened surface thoughts.

"Say anything about the cords…" he warned them. "And you'll regret it."

"Yes, Mr. President," said the pilot.

"The ship…_Dreadnaught _has docked in Voi," Kiryuu said. "Go to Voi."

"Sir," the pilot said with a nod. "Voi it is, then."

Kiryuu braced against the back of the seat as he felt the inertia of the Longsword taking off. The moment they broke away from Io, the Longsword winked out of sight, entering Slip-stream Space. Kiryuu glanced out the forward window, seeing nothing but starless blackness.

"It's safe to move around, sir," informed the pilot. "We'll be there in less than an hour."

"Can you it cut it in half?" Kiryuu asked.

"We'll push it as far as we can, sir."

"Push the drive all the way to the edge," he said. "I want to be there before _Dreadnaught _escapes through that portal."

"Portal, sir?" the co-pilot asked.

"Technomancy has a memory," said Kiryuu. "It remembers its former masters very well and what they built here and where they went. That structure was built by Technomancers, which is why the Prophet needed not only the Tower of Atlantis, but also a Technomancer. Malcho was that Technomancer. Truth needs Malcho to open the portal up and escape through it."

"The Array knows that?" asked the pilot.

"The Array knows a lot of things," said Kiryuu.

Most of the trip was ridden in silence. Though, there were more voices becoming louder and louder as Kiryuu neared Earth. One particular voice he felt through his mind was a voice he had not heard in centuries. This voice brought a shiver down his spine. As soon as they broke from slipspace, Kiryuu sat back down onto the seat again. All around them were signs of battle, ships after ships fighting against each other. Kiryuu glanced out the window again and saw a Covenant cruiser pass by overhead. A loud beeping sound chimed on the console.

"Slipspace ruptures!" said the pilot. "Port side!"

Kiryuu glanced up and saw several pulsating, blue-white light form beyond the battling ships. Several Covenant war ships phased through the ruptures back into normal space, two of them being carriers. One particular carrier was probably by far the largest Kiryuu had ever seen the Covenant build. He could only deduce that it was a super carrier. Rarely were they ever launched. For a brief moment, he feared the worst for Earth when he saw the dark, slick, bulbous shape draw closer and closer to Earth's atmosphere. Kiryuu's eyes widened as the carrier fired a blue plasma torpedo. The torpedo impacted a Covenant cruiser, ripping through its shields and tearing a massive, gaping hole through its hull. The cruiser fell towards Earth and exploded in a shockwave of purple, and blue. Kiryuu's biomechanical eyes zoomed in on a familiar, white symbol on the super carrier's hull. It was Calico Jack's Jolly Roger.

"Admiral Telek 'Herosee!" he said with joy.

"The pirate's back?" the co-pilot asked.

"He brought friends!" the pilot said.

"Now, that is putting my money to work," Kiryuu said in a laugh as another Covenant cruiser exploded from the might of Telek's super carrier. "But, when did he get the new ship?"

Kiryuu was not the only one who was rejoicing Telek 'Herosee's valiant return. Cujo leapt up and down on the bridge of his ship when he saw the super carrier with the Jolly Roger painted on its side blast through the Brute-commanded Covenant cruiser.

"Sweet monkey-Jesus, the pirate's back!" Cujo shouted. "Whoohoo!"

"It's the Sanghieli fleet, Excellency!" said the helmsman. "He's brought the fleet with him."

Cujo made a mental assessment of the size of the fleet that was under Telek's command. Though he was happy to see his best friend return with a fleet to help out, it was not the size he had hoped for.

"It's not all of it," said Cujo. "That fleet is small. Telek, what the fuck are you trying to pull?!"

"Cujo!" said a voice through the comlink.

"Yes, Lord Hood?" asked Cujo.

"Is that Telek up there?" Hood asked.

"Yes, sir," he replied. "I know he's got another ship. I don't know what happened to the _Shade of Darkness._"

"The markings on that super carrier says _Shadow of Darkness,_ Excellency," said the helmsman.

"He's got a new ship," said Cujo. "But it's still Telek. I mean, who else would have Calico Jack's Jolly Roger painted on the side like that? Looks like he also incorporated the symbol for the _Pillar of Autumn _into the design as well."

"Well, I'm glad he's back," said Hood. "Get down here, there's a huge build up of energy coming from that structure at the center where _Dreadnaught _landed. All my ships are about to mount their attack on it. I could use the firepower from your ship as well."

"On it," said Cujo. "Alright, guys, head for Voi. Besides, if we're lucky, we can fry Malcho too."

"Yes, sir!"

Cujo opened a link to the other ships under his command: "Mitsu, Tulsa, Wago, let Telek and his fleet mop up the stragglers. Lord Hood wants us down on Voi to give Truth a proper send off."

"No problem, Cujo," said Mitsu. "Though it's good to have Telek back."

"Cujo," began Tulsa. "I've been getting some odd whispers coming from one lone Longsword. From what one of the stations are stating, they're calling it _Air Force One_ and it's heading in the same direction we are."

"_Air Force One?"_ Cujo asked. "Oh, for the love of Pete…that's Kiryuu Knight on that Longsword! What the hell is that biomechanical lizard doing here?"

"President Knight is here?" Mitsu asked. "Why?"

"He's heading for Voi!" said Wago.

"First Lofwyr wanted a front row seat to this battle, then Malcho managed to get one, now Kiryuu," Cujo sighed. "Who's next? Ghostwalker and Hestaby? Or are we gonna see Ryumyo fly around there as well? It's like a fucking Great Dragon get together. I should sell tickets."

"Do we stop that Longsword?" asked Wago.

"Do you want to tell a 60-meter tall, plasma spewing, biomechanical dinosaur he can't fight the Covenant?" Cujo asked. "Because I don't. Have fun, Kiryuu. Oh boy, Telek won't be happy though. He hates Kiryuu. Alright, all ships make for Voi. Shoot to kill."

0

It was an uneasy trek, but he finally made it to Voi. His golden scales were stained with black, charred patches and dust. His hair was in a mess, the loose locks flying every which way. Lofwyr dipped his head and raised his claw up to smooth back his gold and silver-streaked mane. The Great Dragon coughed and turned his head back towards where he came from, seeing the charred remains of another Scarab sent to kill him lying on the ledge. He dusted a shoulder off and limped towards the warehouse that overlooked the crater.

"_Stupid…mechanical insect…" _he said. _"Should know better…than to mess with me."_

His frilled ears twitched at the sound of something heavy dragging itself behind him. Lofwyr glanced back to find a, purple, metallic leg sparking and twitching, its wires caught on the barb of his tail. He lifted his tail up and flung the robotic appendage away. Lofwyr coughed again. He lifted his head to the sky, his eyes squinting. Already, the sun was beginning to set. It was well past noon since he left the Crow's Nest and parted ways from his passengers. He was left to fend for himself against the Covenant forces. His presence had not gone unnoticed by them. After the Arbiter had assist in aiding him against the first Scarab, and Lofwyr taking out much of the Covenant Brutes and their tanks a little later on, another Scarab was sent after him to try and finish the job. After seeing what the Arbiter had done, Lofwyr knew how to take those insectoid mechs down. Their secondary turrets were weak against one of his fireballs, and he had to keep himself out of the way of the plasma cannon mounted on the forward section. He found that the Scarab, when dealing with something of the same size, did not hold up as well as the Covenant liked.

The second Scarab that attacked, him, Lofwyr managed to take out the legs and then plunge his claw into the core to destroy it. The explosion was what covered him in black soot. After that final Scarab was taken down, he heard the sound of another Scarab exploding just beyond the waterfront. So, he made his way towards the Traxus warehouse. Before him he could see there was a torrent of clouds cycling around the ship and the structure. Rain started to sprinkle down around him. Lightning flashed through the clouds.

Lofwyr limped off of his wounded foreleg, his bat-like wings hung low, dragging the ground. He looked back to the sky again as he heard the sound of a cannon being fired. He saw the green streak of plasma shoot through the sky, taking down a Longsword. The Longsword spun around in a fiery blaze, crashing off in the distance. More Longswords flew through the air, forming up near the crater. He knew exactly what they were getting ready for, the assault on that ship. Still, two Covenant cruisers circled protectively around the center, larger Forerunner ship. Lofwyr eyed it with anger, knowing who it was inside that ship. Malcho. He could sense the Feathered Serpent's presence inside. Faint whispers of Malcho's telepathic voice echoed through the hull of _Dreadnaught_. Lofwyr dipped his head again and raised his claw up to his one biomechanical eye. He flicked his fingers near the eye ridge and a scroll of code rose up over the HUD screen. In a box marked in blue was the insignia of the UNSC. Lofwyr's lid fluttered as the image split in two.

_Come on, work…_he thought with frustration as he commanded the interface screen inside the eye to try and link up with a UNSC Matrix Feed. The one thing he hoped that the last explosion did not cross the wiring in his own neural cybernetic implants. Lofwyr smacked the back of his head and the image fluctuated, scrolling up and down as a horrible whistling screamed through his skull. He growled in frustration and slight annoyance over the noise. Shaking his head, Lofwyr managed to correct the feed and the image on his HUD unscrambled.

"All Brute cruisers are pulling back to Truth's ship," said a voice through the comlink.

"_Ah, at last…a connection," _said Lofwyr.

"Winds inside the storm just hit 200 kilometers per hour. Energy cascades all over the artifact," the voice continued through the comlink.

"Admiral, a Covenant ship has slipped in-system," said another voice, who Lofwyr recognized as Commander Miranda Keyes.

"_One ship?" _Lofwyr asked, knowing though that neither of them could hear him.

"Just one?" asked Hood.

"It's not Telek, sir," she replied.

"What is its range and position?" Hood asked.

"Above the artifact, inside the orbital line," replied Miranda. "It's holding steady."

"Then, proceed with the plan," Hood continued. "We're not going to get another shot at Truth."

"Yes, sir," she nodded.

Lofwyr swung his head around, trying to find where that ship was. He sensed something plucking at his mind like fingers on a harp. These fingers though felt disgusting and violating to him. They pried into the deepest, most private places in the recesses of his mnd. There were whispers, many whispers, whispers of pain and agony, whispers of longing for freedom from a captor with horrible power. Then, he heard a deep laugh rebound inside his brain. He knew that laughter from somewhere.

_No, it can't be him…not him…_Lofwyr thought, thumbing through his mind as to who it was that was laughing. _No, he can't return, not now. Dunkelzahn wouldn't allow it. They can't return. I don't want to go back to sleep again. No, not him, not again._

Lofwyr stiffly pushed himself closer to the warehouse. He paused at the sound of explosions causing a rattle fluctuated through the rusty walls. There was a shattered window just a few paces away from him and up high enough for him to look through. The Great Dragon peered through the window and watched a battle inside. Boxes were tossed across the large warehouse room as two; hefty, armored-looking aliens blasted their green beams at the defending human forces. Lofwyr's HUD zeroed in on one of the larger aliens. The two aliens were dressed alike, carrying cannons on their arms, which shot the green beams. They were much larger than a Brute. The Matrix Feed downloaded the information into his neural net. Finally, he came down to what these creatures were. Hunters.

Lofwyr spied a familiar, armored shape taking down the Hunters from along the wall. His eyes scanned over to another familiar shape dressed in white armor. He heard their voices inside warehouse and he managed to pinpoint the one he recognized. It was Commander Shri 'Canthon. A gold armored Elite came over and cut her binds and then fired his own cannon at the Brutes just as the green, armored human took out the Hunters. He knew that had to have been the Spartan—the one Kiryuu had told him about.

Lofwyr heard the voices of the Elites as they discussed their next plan. He knew what the next stage was: to take out that anti-air cannon. Just as they prepared to leave, Lofwyr leapt up onto the roof of the building. He raised his head, monitoring the UNSC's movements across the battlefield. Then, he leapt down to the front of the building facing the crater. The rain pelted his hide and dampened his mane, washing the black soot from it. Lofwyr flapped his wings and shook his body, slinging the droplets from his scales. He wanted to keep himself out of sight of the engaging troops, monitoring their progress without distraction. He knew it was best for him to stay out of their way so that they could finish the target.

Lofwyr lifted his head up above the roof. He heard Shri 'Canthon shout out for the gold Elite.

"Dovi!" she called to him.

"Shri!" Lofwyr turned his head to the other voice. It was the Arbiter calling out for her.

"My ribs are cracked," he heard the gold Elite named Dovi say with a grunt.

"Go on!" she said to the Arbiter. "Go on and take out that AA gun."

"No," said Dovi. "You go with them."

"N'pho, Yuki, get over here!" Shri said to the dark blue-armored Spec Ops Elites.

"Yes, Excellency."

"Take my brother out of here," she said. "Take him to Ysoa who's assisting with the evacuation of the wounded."

"We will," said Yuki.

Lofwyr watched as the two Elites lifted the wounded Zealot up and head back towards the warehouse.

"Take care, little brother," she said.

"Only if you keep on your hooves, big sister," Dovi said.

"Commander!" said the Chief.

"Coming, John!" Shri said, running off after him.

Lofwyr gasped as he noticed that she looked back towards the warehouse, turning her head to his direction. He sensed in her surface thoughts that she did in fact see him. Shri wagged her head.

"What are you doing here?" she mouthed to him.

"_What does it look like?" _he replied.

"Commander!" shouted Otto. "You're holding up the line."

"Yes, Excellency," Shri said, dashing off. She looked back once more at Lofwyr's head and mouthed again. "Get outta here! This whole place is gonna blow!"

"Commander, what is wrong?" Otto asked. Shri pointed back towards the warehouse. The Arbiter's brow rose when he saw who it was hiding behind the building.

"Yeah, it's Lofwyr," Shri said in a sigh.

The Dragon motioned them to continue on.

"_Don't mind me, just go," _he said. _"Take out that gun!"_

"Is the Dragon mad?" Otto asked.

"He's a nut," Shri replied.

"What's wrong?" the Chief asked.

"Nothing," both Otto and Shri said in unison just as Lofwyr's head lowered back behind the building out of sight.

"Come, Spartan," said Otto. "The AA battery waits for no one."

Lofwyr leaned his back up against the side of the building and sighed in relief. That was when he heard the transmission coming from a Covenant holotank.

"Take heart, my brothers! Only our enemies should fear this raging storm. Darkened Skies and Lashing Fire are all that remains for them when we the worthy have passed to the beyond."

"I will not be shamed," Lofwyr heard Otto's voice as the holotank exploded. "Never again! Not by you!"

_What a mess this is…_Lofwyr thought drearily, his eyes turned back to Truth's ship, wondering what all was going on inside. _Malcho, what is that Prophet making you do?_


	8. The Portal Opens

**The Portal Opens**

_Caramba, what the hell, am I doing?_ Malcho thought as he leaned up against the bulkhead. _This presence, this voice…it's making me do something I don't want to do._

_You must do it. He is coming. Even you knew that the barrier would not last. He always finds a way back to your world. Your kind is proof of that._

Malcho snorted and shook his feathers. He could not go anywhere. The cords that forced him to upload instructions to Dreadnaught were still attached to the wall. He was stuck whether he liked it or not. The Prophet of Truth hovered closely to the Great Feathered Serpent. Malcho eyed him with disgust, a flicker of flame spouted out from his nose as he snorted again. Hearing the repulsed from murmur, Truth turned around.

"Contemplating the future, Malcho?" he asked.

"_Contemplating on rendering you down to your basic components, puto," _Malcho said with a retort.

"A shame that you hold such contempt for me," the Prophet said as he floated his hover throne up to the Dragon's snout.

"_More than contempt," _he said. _"I think I hate you more than Lofwyr."_

"Ah, yes, the gold-scaled Dragon that's been causing a bet of an upset among my troops," the Prophet said with a bob of his head. "Destroyed two of my Scarabs I sent after him. This planet is indeed filled with many surprises. Still, I have not quarrel with your species. It is the Humans that I am at war with. I haven't killed your kind but from what I've heard about the history of this planet, it seems they have."

"_Only because they were protecting their lands," _said Malcho. _"As they do now. Also—because they fear what they don't understand."_

"It is difficult to believe that they would fear something like you given their origins," said Truth.

Malcho cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

"Yes, I know who they are," said Truth.

"_You think that they are…Forerunner?" _Malcho asked. He broke into laughter. _"Is that why you tried to kill them? ¡Ay caramba! They are not Forerunner, amigo, though they are the Children of the Ark. They are the inheritors of the Forerunners' great legacy. I bet that's what you can't stand, can you? How can these 'lowly' creatures be the ones who are to inherit all of this? You misinterpreted again, cholo."_

"And you misinterpreted as well, Dragon," Truth said angrily. "I started this war to spare the Covenant a great schism that would tear it apart. I started this war when I heard the Oracle speak of the Humans as the descendants of the Forerunners. Better for them to die so that the Covenant could continue on their Great Journey."

"_Looks like you failed, Truth," _said Malcho. _"Your Schism had already begun."_

"But not for the reason of the _truth_."

"_Now, I get your name," _Malcho folded his feathered wings. _"I get your name. An ironic name, yeah? You call yourself the Prophet of Truth, but you hide the real truth from those who you lead. No wonder Telek says this war was a dishonorable war. You made it that way, destroying a species that had done nothing to you—except tear the legacy that your kind helped build away from you. This isn't genocide; this is a battle over Daddy's sports car. Only one problem, Truth, the Humans, until now, never knew they were to receive such a car from Daddy."_

"But you are still giving it to them," said Truth. "You're the one who is handing it to them."

"_Because I know it's supposed to go to them," _Malcho said. _"Human lives are short, they can't remember 40,000 years ago, they barely even remember 2,500 years ago. 40,000 years ago, this whole planet was just beginning to thaw from the last Ice Age, humans were—cavemen scribbling on walls, using stone tools, grunting in order to form the first bit of language. They can't remember that far. And I never told them because…well, that would complicate things. The Forerunners didn't want to be thanked for giving humans these gifts; they just wanted the humans to receive them so that they could finish what the Forerunners started. And that's to kill King Ghidorah!"_

Truth's brow rose when he heard the name. He knew that name as well. He had seen the scriptures of the Forerunners, seen their pictographs of the monster, which devoured the life of whole worlds.

"_That's the truth, amigo," _said Malcho. _"That's their job. They're supposed to fight him. But, if you kill the humans, and you go on this—Great Journey, will you take on the responsibility of defeating him?"_

"Where we go," said Truth. "He cannot follow."

"_That's where you're wrong, Truth," _said Malcho. _"He'll follow you. Even the dead are not safe from him. I should know. A friend of mine right now is fighting him in the afterlife—the place where your Lords went. You think he's safe where he is too?"_

Truth turned his throne away from Malcho. The Great Feathered Serpent chuckled darkly at the Prophet.

"_You say I don't have a reason to hate you," _he began. _"But I do. I do hate you. For the same reasons why you hate the humans…you're screwing up everything I built in these last few centuries just by being here. Why don't you just go home and call it a day, amigo? Leave the humans alone, leave me alone. Just call it a draw and leave. You're not gaining anything from this."_

"I will gain divinity," Truth said. "And neither you, nor the Forerunner's descendants will stand in my way."

"_I think I know who could though," _Malcho said. _"And I don't mean Telek either. I mean King Ghidorah. He has a way of mucking everything up. I know that too, I've survived many of his attacks."_

Truth curled his bony hands up and gritted his teeth in frustration. Talking to this Dragon was getting him nowhere. The power around the ship had been built up enough for him to leave. It was time, the Portal had to be open.

"Enough of this, Dragon," he said. "Do what I brought you here to do. Open the Portal!"

"_So be it, amigo," _said Malcho. _"But I will not stay here to watch you go down. I do this for you, and that is it. You're on your own. Try to figure out how to operate the Ark's systems without a Technomancer to help you!"_

With that, the Feathered Serpent spread his wings wide. His mind became one with the Tower of Atlantis and both glowed brightly. The ship began to shake as the structure it sat upon opened up.

"_Uno, dos, tres," _Malcho called, focusing the energy up from the Tower. _"Up we go!"_

The blue-white energy spread through the Tower, down to the structure below. As the ship lowered down into the structure, the blue beam shot up through the pinnacle and into the torrent, cyclonic storm above. The structure opened itself like petals on a flower, all 7 pylons angling themselves up towards the sky. From outside _Dreadnaught_, Lofwyr rushed over to the edge of the cliff overlooking the crater and the structure.

"_The Device!" _he said with a surprised gasp. _"MALCHO!"_

"All ships, fire at will!" said Lord Hood over the comlink.

Lofwyr looked up as a mixture of UNSC and Sangheili ships fired upon the Forerunner ship in the middle. To his surprise, those ships did little damage, nor did it stop the key ship from opening the Portal. Lofwyr watched as the energy built up around the Forerunner ship and fired off into the sky. A shockwave from the blast raced out from the Device. The earth trembled below Lofwyr's claws as the cliff gave way, knocking him down its side. Lofwyr grabbed hold of the dirt with his claw, digging his talons in. He arched his neck back towards _Dreadnaught_ and then to the sky. Spreading across the sky, through the clouds, was a big, black, inky spot. That was the Portal. Lofwyr climbed up the cliff and back onto solid ground near the warehouse. He collapsed onto his back, coughing and sputtering.

"What did Truth do?" asked Lord Hood, coughing through the comlink. "Did he light the Rings?"

"No, sir," replied Miranda through the comlink. "But he certainly did something."

Lofwyr bellowed his thunderous roar out in anger as _Dreadnaught _lifted off into the inky blackness above, followed by other Covenant ships. The clouds began to disperse.

"_I'm going to kill that feather duster!" _Lofwyr shouted. _"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"_

Another voice shouted in rage over the comlink: "Truth, you ugly old prune! Get your wrinkly ass back here so I can have Flynn sodomize it."

Lofwyr chuckled slightly when he heard that voice. Then, he realized where it came from. Turning his head, he saw several Covenant-looking ships appear over the horizon. One of the ships was a massive carrier being surrounded protectively in a battle group by the other ships. His biomechanical eye zoomed in and saw its markings, a Jolly Roger. Lofwyr grinned, _that is Telek 'Herosee's ship!_

"_Now, you're in for it, Malcho."_

0

Truth's leave did not go unnoticed by Kiryuu Knight, who's Longsword circled the Portal. His scaly lips pulled back across his sharp teeth as he watched the ship leave. Malcho was going to pay for this treasonous act, Kiryuu made certain of that. He looked up just as a bright blue rift opened up on the other side of the crater. A Covenant battle cruiser came through the rift. Kiryuu eyed the ship as it banked across the waterfront. The ship was smoking from the sides, filling the air with and covering the setting sun. It angled itself off and crashed several thousand feet away, sending fire and shards flying around the warehouse.

"What the hell was that?" asked the pilot.

"That Covenant cruiser was a wreck before it even crashed," said the co-pilot.

"Fly me over it," said Kiryuu. "And open up the hatch."

"Sir?" asked the pilot.

"I'm leaving," he said. "When I do, fly as fast as you can away from Voi."

"We can't leave you here, Mr. President," said the co-pilot.

"That wasn't a suggestion," Kiryuu said. "Do as you are told."

"Yes, sir," said the pilot.

Kiryuu walked over to the aft section as the hatch opened up. The wind rushed up around him, blowing a few of his green, fleshy locks in his eyes. Kiryuu felt something creep into his CPU once more. It was that familiar voice again, calling to him. At first it sounded like a whisper, but then, it grew to a loud roar. He flinched, grabbing his head in agony as the presence inside his CPU began to claw at his processors. He heard that familiar mocking laugh reverberate through his positronic brain.

_Kiryuu…Kiryuu, it's been a long time since we last seen each other, Kiryuu…_

_King Ghidorah?_ Kiryuu asked.

Deciding not to wait anymore, he bounded out of the Longsword. Kiryuu dispelled the _Mass Displacement, _which kept his body in its constraining, humanoid size. The biomecha grew to his full length, his abrupt change tearing the clothes from his back. Once he was far enough away from the Longsword, Kiryuu ignited the thrusters and sped swiftly towards the crash site. His comlink connected to the UNSC network.

"The Flood," began Miranda through the comlink. "It's spreading all over the city."

_So that's what it is…the Flood…Ghidorah's virus._

"How do we contain it?" Lord Hood asked over the comlink.

"Find the crashed Flood ship; overload its engine core," replied Miranda. "We either destroy this city, or risk losing the entire planet."

"Do it," said Lord Hood.

Kiryuu paused, hovering over the rim of the crater as humanoid forms leapt over the flaming pieces of the ship. His golden eyes narrowed at the sight of much larger forms crawling out, spewing tiny, balloon-shaped creatures. These creatures then leapt onto any human who was still in the waterfront area, latching onto their chests and burrowing inside. As soon as the creatures were inside, the humans began to mutate, twist into corrupted, horrible forms, which garbled and spat.

"Possession…" Kiryuu whispered to himself. "Another form of it."

_Kiryuu, Kiryuu, come here, Kiryuu…_

Kiryuu grunted at the sound of that voice again. He heard the voice begin to chant and sing through the possessed bodies of the Flood Combat Forms. The biomecha flew over the waterfront, monitoring the Flood's progression. His sensors picked up a distinct vibration emanating from the ship itself. There was the Flood, which had the signature of King Ghidorah all over them, but then there was the other presence.

"Cortana?" Kiryuu asked. He latched onto another feed. Though, it was broken in its message, he could clearly hear Cortana's voice registering through it.

"I can't tell you everything…it's not safe. The Gravemind…it knows I'm in the sys…"

"This requires further study," he said. He glanced back up at the Portal. "I know what I must do."

Kiryuu turned his head away from the Portal just as he saw a group of Covenant ships close in on Voi. One of those ships of course he knew belong to Admiral Telek 'Herosee. He continued to feed himself into the communication relay, hoping to listen into the conversation between the ships. He hacked Telek's previous ship before, and he knew he could do it again with this new one. Now that the ships were close to him, he could easily establish a connection and eavesdrop on their conversation. Telek was having a conversation with the Shipmaster of the second carrier that arrived with the Sangheili fleet. He managed just to ease himself into the middle of the conversation.

**Matrix Feed/**

_**Shadow of Intent …**_**No. It's worse. I've been meaning to tell you this, Supreme Commander 'Heros, but as we left Halo, one of our ships broke away formation. You remember High Charity?**

_**Shadow of Darkness **_**That place became a Flood-infested hive last I remembered. What happened?**

_**Shadow of Intent **_**I left ships to quarantine it. But—it failed. And not only that—but the Gravemind thing—it figured out how give power to the city in order to make it run again.**

_**Shadow of Darkness **_**The slip space drives? They should be inoperable because **_**Dreadnaught**_** has left.**

_**Shadow of Intent **_**I know. Gravemind managed to repair those too.**

_**Shadow of Darkness **_**(loud clanking sound) God fucking damn-it!**

_**Shadow of Intent **_**It is why we couldn't muster enough ships to help you. The fleet we left there—they were destroyed. They did what you had to do on your ship—they self-destructed to prevent the Flood from spreading and taking control of their ships.**

_**Shadow of Darkness **_**This is starting to suck so badly right now. Alright, guys, pull up your pants and tighten your belts. We've got Flood to destroy.**

_**Shadow of Intent **_**You're not suggesting in going down there?**

_**Shadow of Darkness**_** No. We assist in the evacuation. Just send down a few warriors. Then, all ships, prepare to glass this infection. Rtas, send down your best warriors. I'll contact Hood's fleet.**

_**Shadow of Intent **_**No problem.**

**End Matrix Feed/**

"Uh-oh," said Kiryuu just as he severed the connection with the two carriers. "They are about to take the more drastic measure in order to exterminate the Flood. Perhaps then, this wasn't the best idea I came up with."

"Hail Humans, and take heed!" rang a voice through the comlink channel. "This is the carrier _Shadow of Intent._ Clear this sector while we deal with the Flood."

Sangheili drop pods shot out from the carrier as it passed over the waterfront. Kiryuu turned his attention back to the warehouse where he detected a Spartan fighting alongside two Sangheili warriors (one with white armor) as they made their way towards the crash site. Then, he saw another familiar form, a gold-scaled Western Dragon limping through the rubble.

"Lofwyr?" he asked.

Another relay shot through the communication airwaves. This new feed confirmed his suspicions as to who it was on that crashed ship.

"Chief," began Miranda through the comlink. "The Elites are looking for something. We didn't believe it when they told us."

"It's Cortana, Chief," said a gruff and unfamiliar voice. "Find her, get her out!"

_Cortana…_

Kiryuu headed down towards the warehouses.

0

Down below, Lofwyr ducked behind the building, hoping that the Flood would not see him. He did not know if he was immune to this new form of that golden monster. This was something he did not want to find out. He heard the sounds of the Flood gurgling voices as they shuffled themselves around the waterfront. Then, he felt those fingers again plucking at his mind. The gurgling became louder and the shuffling came closer to him. Lofwyr turned towards the sound and his red eyes lit up just when he saw dark shapes leap out at him with little fear of what he could do to them. He sliced his claw at the dark forms, watching them explode into the strange, putrid green gas that now choked the air. Flakes of gold fell like snow about him. Then, he felt a piercing sensation at his neck. The Dragon reared up, batting away the crawling, balloon-like creature. He roared just several more humanoid shapes bounded onto his back, scraping at his scales. They were like fire ants, crawling up his hide, pricking the flesh in between the scales. He heard their gargling and sputtering voices combined with that haunting song which tore at the fabric of his mental shields.

_Do not be afraid, I am peace, I am salvation. I am a timeless chorus; join your voice with mine and sing victory everlasting._

Lofwyr stumbled over, crashing into the warehouse and crushing the Flood beneath his heavy girth.

"Lofwyr?"

He glanced up, hearing the familiar female voice call his name. It was Commander Shri 'Canthon standing beside the Arbiter and a few other Sangheili. The Spartan was not with them. They were near the ship, guarding the entrance where the Spartan had jumped in.

"What are you still doing here, Dragon?" Otto asked.

Lofwyr did not reply. He rose up from the ground and shot a fireball over the Sangheilis' heads. They ducked just as it exploded on a group of Flood shuffling towards them.

"_Saving you," _he finally answered.

"Nice shot, Goldilocks," Shri said.

"Arbiter," said a red-armored Elite. "What sort of creature is that?"

"A friend," said Otto.

"_¡Hola!" _said another voice beyond the edge of the cliff. _"¡Hola! Is anyone up there?"_

Lofwyr craned his neck down over the ledge and Shri leapt down from one of the crates. The other Sangheili followed her as they peered over. There, hanging by the claws on his wings was an emerald green Feathered Serpent with blue and red tipped pinfeathers, a gold medallion, and blue mane.

"Malcho!" Shri shouted.

"_Could any of you muchachos be so kind as to help me up, por favor?" _Malcho asked.

Lofwyr growled and reached down to Malcho, hefting him up by the crook of his neck. He lowered the Feathered Serpent down onto the ground, staring at him with heated rage. Shri shared the Western Dragon's expression.

"_Gracias, pendejo," _Malcho retorted.

"_You better have a good explanation for…"_ Lofwyr said as he pointed back to the Portal. _"…that!"_

"_Oh, that?" _Malcho asked, looking back up at the Portal he had created for Truth. _"Uh, funny thing…you see…uh…I…ay caramba, more zombies!"_

"What?" Otto asked, igniting his sword.

"_¡Allí, allí!"_ Malcho shouted, pointing down towards the other end of the warehouses. _"¡Tírelos, tírelos!"_

"What did he say?" the Major Domo asked.

"Shoot them!" Shri shouted, raising her plasma rifle. The Sangheili ducked down behind the crates and fired upon the advancing Flood forms. Lofwyr and Malcho prepared to fire their breath weapons, building up the fiery charge inside their mouths. Several Flood forms leapt high into the air, their tentacles out, discharging their weapons upon the odd mixture of alien and Dragon opposing them. Just before the two Dragons were about to release their flames, a several silvery, bladed tendrils impaled the leaping Flood.

"_What was that?" _Lofwyr asked.

"_More like who was that…"_ Malcho said with a grin.

Lofwyr glanced up, feeling a powerful charge in the air. Thunder sounded from the sky as a blinding, searing beam of violet and white impacted the advancing Flood. The Dragons and the Sangheili were thrown back against the ground from the shockwave of the beam. As the clouds of dust disappeared, they revealed a crater made of molten glass, which was left of the Flood on the waterfront.

Otto stared at the smoldering, glowing crater of glass. It reminded him of the glassing done to many of the human worlds. He could only allude that the beam, which destroyed the Flood was some sort of plasma. Were Telek and Rtas starting their bombardment already? He looked to the sky and found no Sangheili ship. Instead, he saw an enormous, dark, reptilian shape hovering above them. As the shape dropped down, the earth trembled. Something whipped out and knocked Malcho to the ground. In the glow of the burning wreckage of the Covenant cruiser, the new delivery had revealed itself. Shri knew who it was, Otto had seen his face once before the second battle started, and Lofwyr knew exactly who it was. It was Kiryuu Knight. The biomechanical leader pinned Malcho's neck with a strong, silvery-armored claw.

"_Hola, Kiryuu…" _Malcho said.

"Cujo wasn't lying about his size," said Otto, taking note just how big Kiryuu truly was.

"You did this…" Kiryuu said with a growl. "You betrayed everyone including me!"

"_If you would let me explain…"_

Kiryuu lifted Malcho up by the neck, his claw closing tightly around it. The Feathered Serpent hissed with choking sounds.

"_You're—squeezing…my windpipe!" _Malcho projected painfully into Kiryuu's mind.

"Why?!" Kiryuu bellowed. "Explain yourself, you feather-brained bastard!"

"Put him down!" Otto said. "Why is he hurting him?"

"Because all of this is his fault," said Shri. "That's Malcho, he's the one who opened the Portal and allowed Truth to escape."

"_He gave Truth the Tower of Atlantis, the very thing the Prophet needed to activate the Portal," _said Lofwyr.

"And it takes a Technomancer to operate the Tower," said Kiryuu with a growl. "Malcho was that Technomancer! This is all_ HIS FAULT_!"

Kiryuu tossed Malcho to the ground and Otto leapt onto the Dragon's neck, igniting his sword again.

"You!" he said, pointing the glowing tip at Malcho's eye. "I should cleave your head from your neck for aiding the Liar to his prize!"

"_Not before I crush him first," _Lofwyr said as he loomed over Otto's shoulder.

"Capital Punishment is still the penalty for treason, Malcho!" Kiryuu said. "I'm very eager to dish it out on you right now!"

Shri came to Malcho's head, igniting her sword as well: "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"_I can explain!" _Malcho said. _"Please, at least let me tell you why I did what I did! Then, if you still wish to do me in for what I've done, then so be it. Kill me!"_

"Explain yourself, then," Otto said as he backed away and lowered his sword.

"_I want to say that I was not in control of myself when it happened," _Malcho began as he rose from the ground. _"I let the Connection control me instead of me controlling it. I did not want the Covenant to destroy my beautiful city. I was trying to defend it when I activated the Shield."_

"You lead Truth right to the Tower by doing so," said Kiryuu. "Just like you did with Ghidorah 500 years ago."

"_You must understand my problem," _he said. _"Why I am a Technomancer…there is a reason. The Forerunners died; they didn't leave much behind except for Atlantis. But they needed someone who would remember them to teach their descendants the power of Technomancy. One of those was of course Manda, the other was me. But my teacher was not a Forerunner; my teacher was a Forerunner AI that was trapped inside the Tower of Atlantis. Just like you, Kiryuu, a machine that can use Technomancy, so could Forerunner artificial intelligence. But I had to agree to something, I had to agree that when the time came I would activate the Portal and bring the Children back to the Ark…the Children being Humans and well…the Ark being where they went when the Halos fired 40,000 years ago."_

"Who was this construct that taught you Forerunner technology?" asked Otto.

"_His name is Mendicant Bias," _replied Malcho. _"I learned everything from him. But it was only a fragment of him. He was punished for betraying the Forerunners. His reasoning behind that was again very much like you, Kiryuu—he was possessed by King Ghidorah as well. Not even a computer is safe from that monster. He had to be punished and they stripped his AI into three fragments, one went to the Ark, the other went inside the Tower, and the third inside _Dreadnaught._"_

"The Oracle of _Dreadnaught!"_ Otto said in a gasp. "You spoke to the Oracle!"

"_So it wasn't Truth that I was helping," _said Malcho. _"I was helping my teacher regain his fragmented pieces. He felt ashamed for betraying the Forerunners and so in order to make up for his sins, he taught me Technomancy to teach to the Children of the Ark so that they could do what the Forerunners could not."_

"Destroy King Ghidorah," said Kiryuu. "Even with this, I can't allow you to go unpunished for your actions, Malcho."

"_Mendicant Bias is a more powerful Technomancer than I am!" _Malcho said. _"He took control of me through the Connection. I had no choice. I was not myself when I activated the Portal. I believe though he was also controlling Truth in some way. He hoped that with Truth going up there would force the Humans to follow him and Bias would complete his programming of saving them again."_

"What else did you learn while you were there with Truth?" Otto asked.

"_I learned the true reason behind this war," _said Malcho. _"He had spoken to the AI before. Truth knew who the Humans were to the Forerunners and to keep the Covenant from falling apart from that news, decided to begin a mass genocidal war upon them."_

"Truth started this war to keep the Covenant together?" Shri asked.

"_He knew that if you had learned the truth about the Forerunners and who the true heirs to their empire were, your Schism would have happened 30 years earlier," _said Malcho. _"He was trying to prevent that from happening by sacrificing Humans in the process."_

"I'm going to kill him," Kiryuu said, shaking his head.

"You're going to kill him?" Shri asked, craning her head up to the biomecha. "When Telek hears about this, he's going to rip Truth in half!"

"Then, we must tell him what we learned, Commander," said Kiryuu.

"We?" Shri asked.

"Yes, we," he said, snapping his metallic fingers. Kiryuu shrank down to a more humanoid size. "Whether Telek likes it or not, I'm coming with him."

"Yeah, he's not gonna like that either," Shri said.

The air rushed up around them and the sound of thunder could be heard off in the distance. Kiryuu looked over to the west and saw flashes of light as clouds of smoke and steam rose up. Otto walked up to him.

"They've started glassing," the Arbiter said. "We must leave."

Kiryuu looked back to his cooled crater: "It seems I've helped in the process."

"I've never known a creature who could fire a plasma beam from his mouth," said Otto.

"One of my—unusual gifts."

"Indeed."

"Arbiter, the Phantom is here!" informed Spec-Ops Sangheili warrior just as the Phantom lowered down.

"Tell the pilot to take us to Telek's carrier," said Otto as his warriors jumped into the gravity beam and up into the transport.

Kiryuu glanced back at Malcho and Lofwyr: "Will you two be alright?"

"_Go on, amigo," _said Malcho. _"We can find our own way out of the city."_

Malcho and Lofwyr watched as Kiryuu left with the Sangheili and the Phantom flew off. Lofwyr turned back to the glowing explosions created by the plasma bombardment of the Sangheili ships. A chill crawled down his spine.

"_What's wrong with you?" _Malcho asked.

"_I wonder if this was what the people of Reach last saw when they were being glassed by the Covenant," _he began. _"Those explosions off in the distance, the growing clouds of choking smoke from the heated ground—is that what they saw?"_

"_That's glassing," _said Malcho. _"What we're seeing, they saw. I suppose you're sharing the feeling they felt when Reach was destroyed."_

Lofwyr faced the crater and the fuming ruins of New Mombasa off in the distance.

"_I suppose this ends my assessment of the damages done," _he said.

"_Let's get out of here, niño," _said Malcho, taking hold of the gold-scaled Dragon's foreleg. He raised a wing into the sky and the two were surrounded by fluctuating rings. Then, they vanished as the rings disappeared.

0

"Your people have teleportation technology?" Otto asked Kiryuu watching the two Dragons disappear in the gold rings.

"Malcho does," said Kiryuu. "It's Forerunner technology he's studied. He's got a whole teleportation network set up. That's probably how he escaped Truth's ship."

"I am amazed that you have access to the Forerunner's gifts," the Arbiter began. "And yet, you did not use them during the war. If you had, then you would have been able to defend yourself better with it."

"That technology is forbidden here, Excellency," said Shri. "Telek asked the same question once too."

"We abused it," said Kiryuu. "So, we banned the further study of Technomancy and reverted to more primitive technologies. I'm only allowed to use Technomancy for a single convenience. Without it I wouldn't be able to fit in my own office."

"I see," said Otto.

Kiryuu leaned back and sighed, folding his arms behind his head. He closed his eyes and connected to the network once more.

**Matrix Feed/**

**MechaG Thompson, do you read?**

**Angel Yes, sir.**

**MechaG I need you to do something for me. Bring me my suit as well as a change of clothes, black commando. And **_**that**_** box as well. Get into Malcho's teleportation network.**

**Angel I'll have it ready.**

**MechaG Follow my signal. I will be on board the carrier known as the **_**Shadow of Darkness.**_** Don't be late.**

**End Matrix Feed/**

"Thinking about how you're going to deal with a rather pissed off Telek when he sees you on board his ship, Mr. President?" Shri asked.

Kiryuu's lips curled in a smile.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'."

Kiryuu chuckled and turned towards the enormous carrier, and then back to the Portal. All of his answers will come once he faced the future up there. Kiryuu took one last look at the blackened earth that was once the city of Voi. It was like he was taking one last look at Earth. Somewhere, he knew it would be the last time he would see his dear home planet. He wanted to make sure that this moment lasted as long as he could make it last.


	9. Travelin Man

**Travelin' Man**

"The bridge is this way, Mr. Knight," said Otto. "You'll be meeting up with not only Telek, but one of our councilors who is also one of the Shipmasters in Telek's fleet."

"I am not dressed for this," said Kiryuu. They passed several Sangheili warriors who paused just to have a look at the biomecha. Kiryuu was an oddity to them, a creature that walked like a human, armored himself like a Sangheili, but still had an animalistic presence about him. Kiryuu was used to the eyes always being on him since his years of being Commander in Chief.

"If I may, Arbiter," Kiryuu began in a whisper. "I noticed the changes in your last names. You've seemed to knock off a suffix. Telek's name especially. He calls himself 'Heros now."

"It is a change that marked the Schism," said Otto. "We've knocked off the warrior suffix to state we are no long a part of the Prophet's lies."

"Ah," said Kiryuu. His eyes turned towards a golden glow appearing off in a shadowy area. "Excuse me for a moment."

The Arbiter paused and glanced back seeing Kiryuu walk over the corner where another Human had suddenly appeared. The Human handed him a duffle bag and then swiftly vanished in a column of glowing rings. Apparently Malcho was not the only one who had access to this secret teleportation network. Kiryuu turned around and walked up to the Arbiter, with the bag swung over his shoulder.

"You better go on ahead of me," he said.

"The meeting will be starting soon," said Otto. "I believe your Lord Hood and Commander Keyes is inside right now with the Spartan."

Kiryuu lowered the olive drab duffle bag and opened it up, revealing a dark gray, Armani suit and red silk, shimmering tie. The suit was cleanly pressed with hardly a wrinkle on it.

"If I am to go in there and meet up with this councilor ambassador of yours," he said as he lifted the suit out by its hangar. "Would it not be proper of me to be correctly attired?"

Otto dipped his head in agreement. He had to admit, the UNSC President was very cordial in what he did. In some way, it seemed Kiryuu was almost a Sangheili himself.

"This is the finest suit in my closet," said Kiryuu.

"I'm sure that you will do your people proud," said the Arbiter.

"I represent Earth," said Kiryuu as he leaned up, holding the suit off the ground so that it would not get dirty. "If I don't look good, then Earth doesn't as well. If you would excuse me, Arbiter, I need to change."

"Don't worry, I'll tell them you'll be late," he said.

"Actually, keep it a surprise," Kiryuu said with a sheepish grin. "I want to see the look on Telek's face when I walk into his bridge. Especially wearing something that costs more than his yearly salary."

Otto had to chuckle at that. He left Kiryuu to back into a corner and change into his fine suit. Shri passed the changing politician on her way to the sick bay to check up on her half-brother Dovi. Kiryuu finally got his shirt and pants on and now he was fiddling with his tie. She could not help but to notice the trouble he was having trying to tie it correctly.

"Uh-oh, I see a faulty line in your programming, Mr. President," she said as she walked up to him. Kiryuu turned to her, his fingers tangled in the tie.

"After 500 years, I could never tie a Winsor," he said with a frustrated grunt.

"Come here," Shri said, untying the tangling. "You're a mess. What kind of leader of the Free Planet are you if you can't even tie your own tie?"

"Most of the time, I don't even wear a tie. And I'm shocked that an alien knows how to tie a Winsor."

"Hey, I've been around your planet and culture long enough to pick up some things," she said defensively. "Unlike some of these rookies." Shri turned back to another group of black-armored Sanghieli staring at both of them. "I'm used to the odd, the weird, the freaking unbelievable when it comes to your planet. I've seen Orcs, Trolls, Elves, Dwarves, Dragons, werewolves, sasquatches, pixies, gorgons, giant snakes…and everything else the Sixth World has to offer. Nothing will surprise me now."

Commander Shri 'Canthon finally finished the knot, straightening out the tie. She swiped her gloved hand on Kiryuu's shoulder, getting the dust off the suit just as he put his blazer on.

"Well, you look proper," she said. "Just as a leader should look when approaching a Sangheili councilor. Rtas 'Vadum is an honorable man. Even I had respected him for his achievements. Just remember to speak to him with respect and he will give you the same in return."

"Thanks for the tip, Commander," said Kiryuu. He turned to the closed doors that lead to the bridge and conference room. Shri took the leader by his arm and lead him up to the two black-armored Sangheili guards, which protected the door.

"This is President Kiryuu Knight," she said to them. "The leader of Earth."

"You may enter," one of them said, stepping away from the door.

"Well, in you go," she said to Kiryuu. "I've got to get to the infirmary. My brother is inside."

"Thank you, Commander 'Canthon," said Kiryuu.

"Knock 'em dead…" said Shri. She caught herself when the two Sangheili guards turned to her. "Oh, I don't mean it literally. It's an Earth saying. It means 'good luck'."

She parted from Knight and walked down the hall. Kiryuu turned to the open door and slowly stepped in. If he had a stomach, he had a feeling there would be butterflies swarming around it. He could not understand why he was so nervous over meeting with all of them. He knew Telek was inside, he knew that Miranda and Lord Hood were inside. Though, it was meeting with Rtas that made him nervous. He came into the enormous bridge, walking up behind Lord Hood and Commander Miranda Keyes. Sitting in the hovering command chair was Supreme Commander/Admiral Telek 'Heros. Kiryuu took note that his prize naval officer was dressed in different armor now. The gold Sangheili armor had accents of copper, which denoted the new rank. The last time Kiryuu saw Telek, the big Elite was wearing gold and black armor. A smile spread across Kiryuu's muzzle when he saw the Supreme Commander's blue-within-blue eyes widen at the sight of him walking in. The President turned his eyes over to a silvery-armored Sangheili with green eyes and only half a jaw. The expression on the Sangheili's face was of more astonishment than Telek's.

_That must be Shipmaster/Councilor Rtas 'Vadum,_ Kiryuu thought.

He heard whispers from the Sangheili bridge crew when they saw him walk up. He turned towards the Arbiter and the Chief who watched him walk up. Then, there was Detective Marx coiled up in a corner, listening in on the debriefing. Manda straightened out when he saw Kiryuu walk in. Kiryuu knew he had everyone's attention. He caught the sound of a gruff huff from Telek, who started to drum his fingers on the arm of his chair. And Kiryuu knew exactly what the bit Elite was thinking.

_It's nice to see you too, Telek, _he projected mockingly into Telek's mind. There was no doubt in his mind that Telek knew about the eavesdropping Kiryuu did a few moments ago after Truth left. Telek's face seemed to flush a darker color as his capillaries filled his cheeks with his purple blood. There was fire in his eyes.

Kiryuu turned away from Telek and looked to the holographic projection of Cortana. Then, he heard that voice again, which hissed its song through the transmission. Kiryuu felt lightheaded, leaning his head to one side and holding it in his claw.

_It is him…_

"Hurry, Chief," Cortana gasped. "The Ark…there isn't much time…"

"I am sorry," said the floating, metallic orb beside the Arbiter.

"No matter, Oracle, we've heard enough," Rtas said.

"Indeed," said Kiryuu as he awoke from the piercing pain.

"Mr. President!" Lord Hood called. He stood at attention and saluted. Miranda followed as well as the Chief.

"Welcome aboard, Mr. Knight," Telek began. "You came quite unexpectedly."

"I suppose that new armor doesn't earn a salute from you either, Vice Admiral 'Heros," Kiryuu chuckled. "Yes, I know the change in the name."

"_Kiryuu…"_ Manda began._ "It's been a long time."_

"Detective," Kiryuu said with a nod.

"What the hell are you doing here, Kiryuu?" Telek asked. "I don't remember ever giving you a call."

"But your actions garnered one," said Kiryuu. "This solution Cortana speaks of…" he broke away staring at the holographic image of Cortana. "It is a solution I wish to see through personally." His lip curled up into a snarl. "I wish to silence that godforsaken song once and for all."

"Song?" Telek asked.

"You haven't heard it?" Kiryuu asked. "The song Gravemind sings."

"I've heard it," said Otto. "Once before when I first met him back on the other Halo. And I heard it again down there in the human city when the Flood attacked."

"You've faced the Flood, Telek," Kiryuu began. "Surely you did not hear the Song they sing?"

"Different Flood," said Telek. "The one on Installation 04 weren't controlled by this Gravemind creature. They did not sing. They gurgled and spat."

"They are still the same creature," said Kiryuu. "They are still his creations."

"Kiryuu, what the hell are you doing here?" Telek asked again, slapping his hand on the arm of the chair.

"I came here to make sure you get the job done, Telek," Kiryuu crossed his arms.

"You do not have to worry about that, Mr. Knight," began Rtas. "Yes, I know about you as well. We will find this solution your construct has spoken about." He rose up. "Our fight is through the Portal with the Jiralhanae and the bastard Truth."

"We've got it covered, Kiryuu," said Telek. "Any other doubts you had in mind?"

"I have none," Kiryuu said in a dismissive tone.

"Mr. President," began Lord Hood. "We should remain here and hold out as long as we can."

"Did you not hear me, Admiral?" Kiryuu asked. "I stated I wish to find this solution."

"With all do respect, Mr. President," Hood began. "I think you must put the priorities of Earth before your own desires."

"I am putting the priorities of Earth before my own, Terrance," Kiryuu said with a churning growl. His golden eyes flashed. "You have no idea what my agendas are for Earth, how I wish to make sure she stays safe." He turned back to the Sangheili. "You all don't understand. This is more than a war between our two peoples." He looked away. "I'm putting Earth at risk by staying here."

Telek's eyes narrowed, trying to figure out just what Kiryuu was getting at.

"Your world is doomed," said Rtas, directing his comment towards Lord Hood. "A Flood army and a Gravemind has you in their sights. You barely survived a small contamination."

"We can manage," said Lord Hood. "Well without your help, Shipmaster."

"One single Flood spore can destroy a species," said Rtas, stepping forward. "Were it not for Telek's and the Arbiter's counsel, I would have glassed your entire planet! And so, I beg to differ on what you can manage alone without our help."

"Alright, that's enough!" Telek shouted. "That's enough! We can do well enough by ripping each other apart, but we've got other problems to contend with. For once—I have to agree with Mr. Knight. This solution Cortana talks about—it would be the thing to destroy the Flood with. The Ark is up there, which I know. Truth is also up there. And once Gravemind gets wind of what we're about to do, no doubt he'll follow us."

"I have already given my orders, Terrance," said Kiryuu. "I want my Space Fleet up there!" He leaned down and stared into Hood's eyes. "And when I say we go—we go. No hesitations. Understood?"

"I understand, Mr. Knight," he said. "But you can't order _your _entire fleet to go up into wherever that leads."

Kiryuu leaned back: "You are correct. Commander Keyes, you will be given the command of the frigate _Forward unto Dawn_ and you will have her docked inside the _Shadow of Darkness' _launching bay for transport up into the Portal. Since our ships cannot travel through slipspace as fast as the Sangheili ships, they will be our means in getting there."

"Yes, sir," said Miranda.

Kiryuu walked around the table towards Rtas and Telek, facing the two Human naval officers.

"Whatever ships you can spare, Terrance, I want them," he said.

"I could probably spare one more for this endeavor," said Hood. "But I do not wish for Earth to be so defenseless."

"You don't have to worry about the Flood," said Kiryuu. "They won't be after you anymore once I leave."

"Who said you could come?" Telek asked.

"I did!" Kiryuu bellowed, snorting out a wisp of purple energy from his nostrils. "Any objections."

"If I did, you'd probably render me into a charred spot on the ceiling."

"More like blast a hole through the roof," said Kiryuu, the right corner of his lip curled into a smirk. "I don't feel like being berated by you. I don't give a damn whether or not you want me on the ship. I am going up to the Ark even if I have to hijack your ship in order to get there!"

Rtas snorted, his hand fingered the hilt of his sword. Telek held up a hand to stop him.

"I suppose arguing with a 60-meter tall mutant, cybernetic dinosaur that could spit plasma fire would be a bad idea right now," he said.

"I think it would," Kiryuu said with a nod.

"I still have to protest this decision of yours, Kiryuu," said Lord Hood. "Cortana's 'solution' could be a Flood trap!"

"Then, we should go through the portal," said Miranda. "And find out for sure."

She glanced back at Kiryuu Knight who gave a nod.

"Hood," began Kiryuu. "When have I ever been wrong?"

"This time you could be," said Hood.

"No," said Otto. "If your construct _is_ wrong, then the Flood has already won."

"I'll find Cortana's solution," said the Chief standing between them. "And I'll bring it back."

"I think this discussion is over," said Kiryuu. "The majority has voted to go. The system works."

"This is either the best decision you've ever made or the worst," Hood said. "Hell, if it is. I doubt I'll live long enough to find out which. But I still must protest you going with them, Mr. President."

"What does it mean to be the Commander in Chief of the military?" Kiryuu asked. "Am I just an executive administrator or am I the highest ranking officer on the battlefield?"

"You are the—highest ranking officer on the battlefield," Hood said in defeat.

"You can't argue with him," said Telek, turning back to Rtas. "Once he gets his mind set on something, there's no stopping him."

"I understand why you often become frustrated when dealing with him," said Rtas.

Kiryuu turned back to Telek and grinned again.

"Don't think that means you can boss me around," Telek said. "This is my ship, Mr. President. My ship, my fleet, my rules."

"Alright," he nodded, bowing slightly.

"Fine," Hood sighed. "Have it your way."

Kiryuu chuckled again and took the Winsor knot of his tie and loosened it. He slid the tie off of his collar and unbuttoned the top button. Taking off his blazer, he tossed it to the Chief, who caught it, and then unbuttoned and rolled up his sleeves.

"Wonderful," Telek rumbled. "He's gonna fight the Gravemind looking like a white-collar jockey." He glanced over at Miranda. "Commander, we'll be leaving soon. Get your ship docked inside quickly before we go."

"Right," Miranda nodded.

"Cujo, Mitsu, Tulsa, Wago," Telek began. "Prepare to join the fleet, we're going up through that thing."

"No problem," said Cujo. "We're ready."

"Good," said Telek as the COM-channel clicked off.

Lord Hood turned and walked out of the bridge followed by the Chief and Miranda.

"By the way," began Kiryuu, turning back to Manda. "It was Malcho."

"_Excuse me?" _the Eastern Dragon asked.

"Malcho did it," he said. "Because of what he did, we've lost the Tower of Atlantis to Truth."

"_What?!" _Manda said. _"He gave the Tower of Atlantis to that Prophet? Why?"_

"It was the device in which the key ship _Dreadnaught_ could open the Portal," said Kiryuu. "Not only that, but Truth needed a Technomancer and Malcho was the one he used to activate the Device with."

"_I'm gonna pluck every feather out of his body!" _Manda said. _"That's my Tower he just gave Truth! Mine! Not his, mine!"_

"If I recall from the discussion," began Telek. "You lost it to Malcho."

"Indeed, I also recall that discussion," said Rtas. "But why would this Malcho help Truth?"

"He didn't," said Kiryuu. "He said he was helping something you call the Oracle of _Dreadnaught._ It was a Forerunner AI."

"Oh, I know about that one," said the orb.

"Kiryuu, meet 343 Guilty Spark," said Telek. "Spark, meet Kiryuu. You two have so much in common. You're both AIs and you both piss me off!"

"I am privileged to make your acquaintance, Construct," said Spark, floating over to Kiryuu's side.

"Oh, I can see this turning into a wonderful relationship," Kiryuu said with a sarcastic snort.

_Finally, something that pisses him off as much as he piss me off, _Telek thought with a smirk.

_I heard that._

_Damn it!_

Rtas turned to Kiryuu and then back to Telek, noticing their fixed expression.

"Anyway, Malcho lifted the Tower up and activated it, creating the Shield around Lexington in order to keep the Covenant out," Kiryuu said. "But it only provided Truth with a beacon in order to find what he needed."

"_I can't believe he would do this!" _Manda said in defeat. _"Even he isn't pigheaded enough to do something like that!"_

"But in a way, Malcho did something for all of us," said Kiryuu. "We can fight this final battle without harming anymore of Earth. That was another reason why I wanted to go up to the Ark."

"I get it," said Telek. "Better trash up the Forerunner's big base of operations instead of your own planet."

"_Telek," _began Manda. _"The Ark belongs to the Humans. It's theirs to do whatever they wish to do with it. If they wish to fight on its surface to spare their own planet, then, that is what the Ark will be used for."_

"I better go see Lord Hood off," said Kiryuu.

"And I must return to my own ship," said Rtas. "We make for the Ark in two cycles, Supreme Commander. This should give your Commander Keyes enough time to get her ship inside your bay."

"Yeah, I hear yah," Telek said with a sigh.

0

"Mr. Knight, you are a very persuasive and austere leader," said Rtas as they walked down to the main hangar bay. "Those are qualities that I do admire."

"Sometimes you have to be stern with your subordinates to make sure they know what you want them to do," said Kiryuu.

"I do agree with that," Rtas said with a nod. He dipped his head again and parted from the group. Telek watched him as he entered his Phantom. There was still some animosity towards the silvery armored Sangheili more because of his status in the Council. He was working with one of the ones who sentenced him. Kiryuu could sense the tension between the two Sangheili. The Phantom lifted off and exited the great bay opening heading for the crook of the carrier.

Kiryuu turned back to the Pelican, which Lord Hood got into. He walked up beside Miranda and the Master Chief and watched as the hatch closed up. Behind him the groups of Sangheili and Human troops were making ready. Johnson was picking up Covenant weapons to give his troops ready for when they have to face Covenant and the Arbiter picked up a rocket launcher and flamethrower, finding them rather adequate weapons against the Flood.

After many arguments over the box Kiryuu had Thompson bring up through a Pelican, Kiryuu retired to the _Dawn_. He walked up into the docked frigate's bridge and found Telek sitting in Miranda's command chair. He had a screen pulled up over his lap, reading over the information on it.

_United Nations Space Command Emergency Priority order_

_098831A-1_

_Encryption Code: Red_

_Public Key: File/First Light/_

_From: UNSC/NAVCOM Fleet H. T. Ward_

_To: ALL UNSC PERSONNEL_

_Subject: General order 098831A-1 ("The Cole Protocol")_

_Classification: RESTRICTED (BGX Directive)_

_The Cole Protocol_

_To safeguard the Inner Colonies and Earth, all UNSC vessels or stations must not be captured with intact navigation databases that may lead Covenant forces to human civilization centers._

_If any Covenant forces are detected:_

_Activate selective purge of databases on all ship-based and planetary data networks._

_Initiate triple-screen check to insure all data has been erased and all backups neutralized._

_Execute viral data scavengers Download from UNSCTTP://EPWW:COLEPROTOCOL/Virturalscav/fbr.091_

_If retreating from Covenant forces, all ships must enter Slipstream Space with randomized vectors NOT directed towards Earth, the Inner Colonies, or any other human population center._

_In case of imminent capture by Covenant forces, all UNSC ships MUST self-destruct._

_Violation of this directive will be considered an act of TREASON, and pursuant to UNSC Military Law articles JAG 845-P and JAG 7776-L, such violations are punishable by life imprisonment or execution._

Telek tossed the screen aside and sighed heavily. Kiryuu knelt down and picked it up.

"Well, this is obsolete now," he said.

"I remember when you gave me the file," sad Telek. "I already knew the protocol before I even took your offer. I would have my ship float close to a UNSC ship—cloaked of course and out of range of their sensors—and just sit and listen to the chatter."

"I suppose you were ordered to do that," said Kiryuu as he sat down at navigations.

"Well, sometimes I was," he said. "Other times, I just liked to listen to the chatter."

"And you call me a little sneak."

"Oh, shut up," the big Elite said in a snort. "And I don't like you hacking into my ship again!"

"This is a new ship," said Kiryuu.

"You still did it," Telek said. "I'm still pissed at you for doin' it, and you ain't gonna get away with it!" He leaned back. "When I first learned about this order I began to realize the sacrifices the United Nations was willing to do in order to keep their planets safe. And I began to wonder how could my people think of Humans as cowards when they're willing to actually kill themselves so that the Covenant would never find out where their planets were? Telling the enemy where the planet was, that's cowardice, but blowing up your ship, killing yourself to keep your planet safe, that's heroism."

"It was a desperate measure," said Kiryuu. "Just like you blowing up your ship to keep the Flood from getting it."

"I loved that ship," Telek said. "It tore me to pieces to blow her up like that. That ship saved my life many times while I was on the run. But I had to."

"We have to do what we have to do," said Kiryuu.

"Is that why you're here?" Telek asked.

"I already told you why."

"Bullshit," Telek said. "Now what is it really?"

"Alright," Kiryuu said. "There are many reasons why I'm here. Gravemind is one of them. The main reason though…this is my last term. I don't want to spend it just hiding inside a cave, hoping that the war will end and then to emerge to give my condolences to the lives lost. I hear them saying: 'Well, while we were up there putting our lives on the line, the pompous computer was sitting comfortably in his office signing papers.' I wasn't designed to just sit in an office. I was designed to fight."

"So, you wanna leave the Office in a blazing glory, eh?" Telek asked. "One for the history books to remember? Oh, no that's not arrogant at all…"

"This isn't for the history books, Telek," said Kiryuu. "This is a personal matter for me. I'm tired, I'm old, I've lived my life with people saying that though I may do something that turns out to help others, my motives are devious and selfish. This is my chance to prove them wrong."

"Sounds like to me you're just a _kamikaze_ warrior looking for one last explosive exit before the big finish," Telek said.

"Believe what you want to believe," he said as he turned away from the Sangheili. "Though I am glad that I finally get to do what I promised on my first term. I said I would find a way to end the war." Kiryuu turned back to Telek and smiled. "And I did. It took me two terms to do it, but I did. And I have you to thank for it."

"Oh, don't get all mushy on me right now," Telek said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "That still doesn't change the fact I hate your guts."

"I don't have guts."

"Well, whatever the hell you have that counts as guts, I hate them!"

Kiryuu smiled. It was not his devious smile, his deceitful smile, or his sinister smile, it was a different smile, and it was his caring smile. He was happy for once.

"Hey, I think you're in my seat," said a voice behind Telek. He turned around and found Miranda standing there, with arms crossed, waiting for him to move. "Come on, don't you have your own command chair to sit in?"

"I was just warmin' yours up, darlin'," said Telek with a grin on his mandibles.

"Don't call me darlin'," Miranda said as she shook her head. She playfully slapped his broad shoulder. "And get outta my chair!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Telek made an attempt to raise his body up out of Miranda's command chair. But then, he realized he could not even budge an inch.

"Come on, Telek," said Miranda. "Get out of my chair."

"I'm tryin', but I think I'm stuck."

Kiryuu chuckled.

"Oh, lay off, Xbox!" Telek said in a huff. "Damn it! Why do you Humans have to be so damned puny?"

"It's not the Humans, Telek," said Kiryuu. "It's you. Someone's been packing on the pounds."

"I'm gonna kill you!"

"You have to remove yourself from the chair first," Kiryuu said.

Telek held out his arms and Miranda grabbed him by the wrists.

"You push and I'll pull," said Miranda as she pulled on the Sangheili. Telek pushed up with his legs.

Kiryuu just leaned back and laughed as the two fought against the chair for a few minutes. One final heave was all it took and Telek came tumbling out of the chair, falling on top of Miranda. Kiryuu got up, moving away just to get a better view of this awkward moment.

"Hmmm, do you two need to be alone?" Kiryuu asked.

"Telek, you're too heavy," said Miranda. "Get off."

He rolled over, allowing her to get up. Miranda dusted herself off and sat down in her chair. She turned around hearing the sound of Sergeant Johnson walking up from behind.

"Bulkhead's secure, Commander," he said.

"Thank you, Sergeant," said Miranda.

Johnson turned around seeing Telek on the floor and he shifted his cigar.

"Squiddy, what the hell are you doing?"

"Looking for a contact lens…"

"You don't wear contacts," said Johnson.

"I didn't say it was mine," Telek said with a shrug.

"Get your drunken ass off the floor," said Johnson.

Telek rose up: "What is with this reverse rank command—thing? I'm the highest ranking officer here and everyone orders me around."

"Ahem," Kiryuu cleared his throat.

"Excuse me," Telek said with an annoyed growl. "Second highest officer in command. There, you satisfied?"

"Implicitly," Kiryuu said.

"I still hate you…"

Kiryuu allowed himself one more laugh at the Supreme Commander and he walked out of the bridge.

"Telek, the only thing I can say is…keep up the good work."

"You know I will."

He took one last look at Miranda, Telek, and Johnson together. For a moment, he just wanted to keep that image in his head. He could not understand why he wanted to, but he did. Johnson poking fun at Telek for something—be it his constant drinking, or just his overall unorthodox methods, Telek of course giving off his witty retorts for everything Johnson says, which then alludes to the whole 'husband and wife' joke among the crew, and Miranda trying to figure out how to keep the two in line. Why did he have the strangest feeling he would not see a moment like this again? Such a thought made Kiryuu withdraw into a sullen demeanor as he walked down the hall and into his own quarters.

_I cannot escape my own destiny. At least I know the Earth will be in good hands when I'm gone._


	10. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_Keep up the good work…_

That is exactly what he did up there. But despite doing what the job he was hired to do, he still lost in the long run. He won the war, but lost everything in it. He lost Johnson, he lost Miranda, he lost Jacob, he lost the Chief, and he lost President Knight. He did he job; he just did not do his job as well as he thought he would. He did not bring the people he cared about home. Telek stood there, dressed fully in the white uniform of admiralty of the UNSC, with cap and gold fretting. With Captain Tom Jimenez by his side, Telek walked around the mass of people who showed up for the memorial service, which marked the end of the Human/Covenant War. He saw his dear friend and teacher Otto 'Gamam standing there still wearing the archaic armor of the Arbiter. Though Otto had been pardoned and finally given a chance to regain his old rank, he still remained as the Arbiter.

It was about an hour before Lord Hood would give his speech commemorating the losses in the war. Telek walked up to the memorial, a slab of granite carved in the shape of a Pelican wing. At the foot of the memorial were pictures of people who served and died during the war. They were decorated with flowers and various items that their loved ones left. Telek knelt over and pulled out a metallic tobacco pipe. He knelt down and placed the pipe beside a picture of Captain Jacob Keyes. Then, he took his hat off and looked at the images of his fallen comrades.

"Humans called me the Miracle Worker," Telek began. "Because I could do things they could not—I was able to even the playing field of a war they knew they could not win. But there was one miracle I could never do, and that was bring you home, Jacob, or keep your daughter safe. I failed you."

"Admiral," began Tom. "You didn't fail them. You just tried to promise something they knew you could not keep."

"I guess I was just fooling myself when I kept saying that I was going to bring them home…" Telek said as he sighed, lowering his head. He backed away and walked towards the large group of people talking and sharing stories about the ones they lost. He could not believe how similar their cultures were when revering the dead. That was when he spotted two humans talking to each other dressed in fine business suits. One man was pale and gaunt with silvery hair and the other, richly tan like Tom was with silky, shoulder-length black hair. He felt a strange compelling notion to walk up to them and speak to them. And so, he did just that. Telek placed his cap back on his head and walked up behind the silver-haired human.

"Excuse me," Telek began. "I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you, but I feel like I need to talk with you gentlemen for a moment."

"¡Caramba!" gasped the Human with the black hair. It was obvious; this man must be either Spanish or Latino. "It's you…seriously, it is you. Of course you can speak to us, amigo. Lofwyr, close your mouth!"

"Lofwyr, the CEO of Saeder-Krupp and Malcho, the CEO of Omak Technologies and Magical Research," said Tom. "Telek, these guys are…the two main suppliers for anything from starships to shotguns."

"And everything in between!" Malcho said with glee. "And we know who you are, muchacho."

"Admiral Telek 'Heros," said Lofwyr, holding out his hand. Telek shook it. "It certainly is a pleasure."

"Dragons…" Telek said. "You two are Dragons. I've heard about you two. I'm guessing you're both here because of Kiryuu."

"Sí, amigo," said Malcho. "It was a tragedy. You see, we three have known each other for centuries. So, of course we are very close friends."

"He was a fine businessman," said Lofwyr. "And at times a worthy adversary. He will be missed."

"There's one thing I regret," Telek began. "Was saying those harsh words to them. Funny how only now when they're gone, you regret mistakes like that."

"He's told us that you were often frustrated with his motives," said Malcho. "It's only natural. You are speaking to a being that was centuries older than you. What he thinks about is the big picture, the outcome in the long run, not the finer details or the outcome of one moment—but many moments. It's hard to truly understand someone like that unless you've lived as long as he."

"Or as long as us," said Lofwyr. "Kiryuu had a similar mindset that we Dragons share. It's like planting an acorn and knowing that because you will live as long as the oak that grows from it, you'll be able to nurture it through its life. Humans don't have that advantage. The only thing they can do is just pass the nurturing of that tree to their descendants without ever knowing if that tree will grow as strong as they hoped it would when it was first planted. Dragons know the tree will grow strong because they live long enough to see it grow and eventually see it die."

"I suppose I get what you're saying," said Telek. "Oh, Lofwyr, you own BMW correct?"

"Yes," said Lofwyr.

"Well, I thought so," he began. "Kiryuu told me that. I've got a complaint to make on your Warthogs. They're not fast enough."

"Fast enough?"

"Yeah. Could you put in maybe a _turbo boost_ or something that would make it go faster? That would help especially if someone's using one and escaping from an exploding Halo."

Lofwyr's eyebrow cocked up and his left eye twitched for a moment. Then, his thin lips turned up into a smile. He started laughing. Malcho gawked. He was stunned to find Lofwyr laughing so loudly.

"I'll see about the improvement at the next meeting," Lofwyr said, still chuckling.

"Thanks," Telek smiled.

"I can see why they call you the Miracle Worker," said Malcho. "You've done something no one's ever done—you made Lofwyr laugh. Not even I could do that. Amigo, I bow to your greatness."

He bowed slightly before the Sangheili. Lofwyr just rolled his eyes at the gesture. Telek chuckled and then turned around to see Timothy Marx (Manda) in his human form, fiddling with his tie. The Eastern Dragon turned and dipped his head.

"Uh, Admiral," began Tom. "Lord Hood is about to start."

"Well, I better get over there for his big speech," said Telek. "I'll come back and talk to you later."

"Hasta luego," said Malcho.

"Well, he seems to be the only one who doesn't want to kill you right now," said Lofwyr as Telek and Tom walked away.

"You know, I have no doubt that he could actually get very close to doing that," said Malcho. "From what I've heard about how he fights."

"Scared?" Lofwyr asked.

"No, puto," Malcho said in a huff. "And don't ask that question again if you know what's good for you."

"Fine."

As the proceedings went on, Hood made his speech about all that was lost, but the fact that the sacrifice these men and women made will not be forgotten. After he was done, a 3-volley salute sounded over the ruined landscape where the Device was. Tim walked up to Malcho and Lofwyr.

"This doesn't change the fact that you screwed up, Malcho," he said. "That tower wasn't supposed to be moved."

"There was nothing I could do," said Malcho. "But if it hadn't have happened, then, they would have never been able to damage the Ark so that it could not activate the other Halos. Life has been spared."

"For now," said Tim. "But he will return. And you know that."

"Then, we will be ready for him," said Lofwyr. "All of us."

When it was over and Telek said his last good byes to those who he served and who served under him, he returned to Malcho and Lofwyr. Telek removed the Magnum from its holster and handed it back to Tim.

"I suppose this is yours," Telek said.

"Was mine," said Tim. "But that thing's brought more luck to you than me. You keep it. Call it a memento of our short time together. And, after all, Jacob did give that to you."

"Thanks, gecko," Telek smiled, holstering the gun back.

"Gecko!" Malcho chuckled. "It's about time someone called him that."

"Hey, don't call me 'gecko', Squiddy," Tim grinned.

"Only Johnson is allowed to call me 'Squiddy'," said Telek. "Get back to your beat, Peacekeeper, and watch out for those drug dealers."

"I will," said Tim, holding out his hand. Telek shook it. "If you're ever in Miami, drop a line."

"Coffee and doughnuts?" Telek asked.

"It's what we cops live off of," Tim chuckled as he walked away.

Telek turned to Malcho: "I was going to mention this earlier, but I wasn't sure. I heard the Covenant stole something from you when they went to Lexington."

"Sí," Malcho nodded. "They did. The only thing that could help that Forerunner ship _Dreadnaught_ to activate the Portal. I had it in my possession."

"He gave them the Tower of Atlantis," Lofwyr growled.

"Not by my own will," Malcho sighed in defeat.

"Like Kiryuu when he activated the Ark," said Telek. "He said he didn't do it by his own will either."

"I'm sorry," said Malcho. "It wasn't something I could control. But it was something I knew had to happen. If it didn't you wouldn't have found the solution to the Flood. Technomancy works in ways sometimes the wielder doesn't understand. Believe me, I was infuriated after I found out what I had done, amigo. But even a Great Dragon can't go up against a fleet of superior alien ships."

Telek sighed and took out the glowing blue crystal that Kiryuu had given him.

"Since both of you were his closest friends," he began. "Obviously because the three of you have lived long enough to become close, I suppose this should go to you…"

Lofwyr's steely eyes widened and his jaw became slack. Malcho just chuckled.

"Oh, no, amigo," he said. "Kiryuu gave that to you. You should keep it to remember him by."

"But…" Lofwyr protested, Malcho pushed him way, leading him further from Telek.

"Keep it, amigo," Malcho said. "We have to go. Business, of course. Adios. Come on, niño."

The two Dragons glanced back behind them and watched Telek enter the green Phantom and fly back to his ship. Lofwyr stared sternly at Malcho.

"I can't believe you let him fly off with the Dragonheart!" he yelled. "Do you know who's spirit is inside that thing?"

"Yes, I know," said Malcho. "But Telek will need it more than us. After all only Dunkelzahn knows where Kiryuu is."

"But," began Lofwyr. "But…that should belong to us, not an alien."

"It wasn't given to us, puto," said Malcho. "It was given to Telek."

"I still say it should be returned to us," said Lofwyr. "That's Dunkelzahn he's carrying around in his pocket! The Loremaster shouldn't be carried around in a pocket!"

"He's not the Loremaster anymore," said Malcho. "You are."

Lofwyr snorted again, gritting his teeth. Though Dunkelzahn was an unconventional character, he did have respect for the silver and blue Dragon. But he supposed that Telek and Dunkelzahn would make an interesting team in finding Kiryuu Knight. After all, they were both unorthodox in their methods. Both did not adhere to the ethical rules of their species.

The wind rushed up around the two businessmen and Malcho glanced towards the sky, noticing another green Phantom descending. A Sangheili warrior dressed in gold armor leapt out from the gravity beam below the transport. Malcho's magenta eyes lit up when he recognized the Sangheili who came down.

"Cujo!" Malcho called, opening his arms up to hug the Sangheili Shipmaster. "Cujo! It's so good to see you!"

"Hi, Malcho," said Cujo allowing the Dragon to embrace him.

"Cujo! I have a proposition for you. Since the war is over, I want you to work for me full time as my new Shadowrunner."

"Uh, Malcho," Cujo began. "I don't think that I'll be…"

"Oh, I haven't met a Shadowrunner with your finesse in a long time," said Malcho. "Not since Benny." He looked over at Lofwyr. "You remember Benny, don't you, pendejo?"

"Oh, I hope he's rotting in Hell right now!" Lofwyr said in a growl.

"Benny kidnapped Lofwyr in 2045 and duct taped him to my corporate HQ," Malcho said. "Only someone with talent could do that!"

"Malcho," said Cujo. "I can't stay."

"What? You can't? But you must! You must! I want you to. I'd pay you handsomely, I'd—I'd give you a mansion, fancy car, anything!"

"I can't stay. The war is over for Earth, but it isn't for Sanghelios. I have to go with Telek and defend my home from the Jiralhanae and any Prophet that still remains. Truth maybe dead, but there is still other Prophets.

"Don't make me beg, amigo," said Malcho.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh, thank goodness," Lofwyr said. "I don't need another Benny coming around and kidnapping me. Go on, Shipmaster. Go back home." He turned to Malcho. "And away from people like the peacock."

"Don't anger me, chupaverga," Malcho said, sneering.

"Well, I guess this is good bye," said Cujo. "I had fun, Malcho. When it's all over, I might come back for a visit."

"Alright, amigo," said Malcho. "But there is something I want you to do for me."

"Malcho…"

"No, no, I want you to do this," he said. "It'll only take a moment. Kiryuu Knight left a Will. His orders were that if something were to happen to him, the base in Antarctica would be decommissioned."

"And what will happen with…_him_?" Cujo asked.

"He will be released," he replied. "Released and…be sent on his way."

"What about Mana mutating him?" Cujo asked. "Isn't that why Kiryuu froze him in the first place?"

"If it happens, it happens," Malcho said. "Besides, I think the Humans can handle that. After all, they survived near extinction before. I need you to fly your ship over the base and melt the ice with a plasma beam."

"Yeah," said Cujo. "That would free him very quickly. Okay, I'll do it."

"I knew I could count on you," Malcho said with a grin. _"Gracias, mi amigo."_

"Shipmaster," Lofwyr began. "Do me a favor. Tell Commander 'Canthon…I said 'good luck'."

"I'll tell her that," said Cujo.

0

"Cujo, what the hell are you doing?" asked Telek as his face appeared on the main view screen of the bridge. The _Shadow of Darkness _along with the_ Shadow of Intent _followed the movements of the _Reverence-_class cruiser _Divine Journey_ as it made its way towards the South Pole.

"I just need to do this one thing," said Cujo. "Then, I'll be done and we can go back to Sanghelios."

"Shipmaster Cujo 'Mentatal," began Rtas 'Vadum. "Return to formation at once!"

"It'll just take a second," said Cujo.

"This is insubordination!" Rtas said. "And I will not stand for such belligerent actions."

"I'm the Supreme Commander of this fleet, Rtas," said Telek. "I'll do the berating of my Shipmasters. Cujo, get your ass back here right now! That's an order!"

"Well, you gave me another order," said Cujo. "Would you like to see the result of that order?"

"What is this order?" Otto asked.

"I've given him many orders…" Telek said with a shrug. "Which one is it, Cujo?"

"Finding out what Knight was hiding," said Cujo.

"That one…" Telek said. "Fine, what was he hiding?"

"A secret base in Antarctica that isn't owned by the UNSC," said Cujo.

"Not that it matters now," said Telek. "What sort of base is it?"

Cujo rapped his fingers on the holographic control panel and sent the real-time feed of the base in Antarctica directly to the two Shipmasters. He looked over to his helmsman.

"We locked on?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," one of them replied. "The base has been evacuated. No Human presence is detected."

"Okay," said Cujo. "Fire the beam right into the dome structure covering…_him_."

"Him?" asked Rtas. "Him who?"

Without a reply, Cujo fired his ship's plasma cannon. The purple-blue beam shot straight through the atmosphere, angling its trajectory, but making its mark. It impacted the icy base and the dome that was erected in the center. Telek leaned closer as he watched the feed from his ship of something moving around under the ice. He gave one of his upper mandibles a clack just as a dark gray head rose up from the ice, shaking some of it off of its back. It had large spines growing from its back and its hide was pitted with rough scales. The creature reared back and roared a familiar roar that Otto had heard before.

"What creature is that?" asked Rtas.

"Mr. Knight's—son…" replied Otto, recalling the conversation he had with Cujo on the space station when he arrived on Earth.

"The Construct can procreate?" Rtas asked, a bit taken back by the idea of Kiryuu actually having any sort of offspring.

"Godzilla?" asked Telek. "That's what Kiryuu was hiding down there? Godzilla?"

"He's been hiding that thing in the ice since 2007," said Cujo.

"How can a Construct procreate?" Rtas asked.

"Uh…" Cujo began. "Telek, do you want to explain what Kiryuu is? Or should I?"

"He's a biomechanical cyborg built on the dead bones of the father of that monster," said Telek, pointing at the creature as it made its way towards the shore. "In other words, he's Frankenstein. That is all I can say."

"By the gods, why would…" Rtas began. "How–why would Humans build Mr. Knight?"

"Because of Godzilla," said Telek. "The technology they had couldn't get rid of the monster, so, they took his more powerful—but dead daddy and built a robot out of it. And that robot became Kiryuu."

"Kiryuu had the power to kill Godzilla, but spared his life," said Cujo. "So, in order to hide that, he froze the monster into ice and stored him in Antarctica. Well, they can't get mad at Kiryuu now for lying about not doing what he was supposed to do. He's dead."

"Right…" Telek said. "He's dead. We finished here?"

Cujo glanced back and watched as the monster dove into the frozen ocean: "Yeah, I'm finished."

"Good," said Telek.

"Then, let us return to our home," said Rtas. "To make sure it is safe as well."

Telek shook his head: "I spent over 6 years trying to make Earth safe and Cujo just set loose a monster that could destroy it with one swipe. Nice, Cujo, nice."

"Heh," Cujo said with a laugh. "Oops."

"We are gonna have a long talk about this, Cujo," said Telek. "A very long talk."

"Crap…"


End file.
